Princess Read Free Page B

food.
    FEEDING: Part Two
    A) Use the pink dishes. The ones with flowers on them are for breakfast; the ones with bunnies are for dinner: Dishes must be washed and dried between meals.
    B) Put exactly three tablespoons of Marvelous Morsels Beef-Bacon Bonanza (pink can) into the dish. If it has come right out of the fridge, be sure to microwave on medium for seven seconds. Mash the food with the back of afork until there are no, repeat
no,
lumps. Not even a small one. Princess does not like lumps.
    C) Put the food dish down on its matching pink place mat (flowers for breakfast, bunnies for dinner). Make sure that you have put up Princess’s favorite picture (the one of the pink teddy bear) near her eating spot, so she can look at it while she eats.
    D) Fill the water dish with one-half bottle of Crystal-Fresh spring water. Do not use any other brand or Princess will not drink it.
    E) Call Princess to eat. I usually say, “Princess! Dinny-dins!” or “Princess, time for brekky!”
    Charles let the List fall to the floor. “Okay,” he said to Princess. “I’ll mash your food. I’ll put up your teddy-bear picture. I’ll pour your spring water. But I am
not
going to talk baby talk to you.”
    Princess just gazed back up at him with her tiny black eyes, like two shiny buttons. She tilted her head and gave him a puzzled look.
    Blah, blah, blah. I don’t understand what you’re saying — but I
do
know that I’m still waiting for my dinner. What’s taking so long?
    Suddenly, Charles had a feeling that he just
might
be talking baby talk, before too long.
    Charles was very careful with Princess’s dinner. It took ten times longer than pouring out a bowlful of Baxter’s Beefy Chunks for Buddy, which he also did. And he was a little nervous about whether or not he was doing everything correctly. But when he called, “Princess, dinnertime!” she came scampering right in, her tiny twinkle-toes just a blur of motion. Princess went right to her pink bowl, on the pink place mat, with the pink teddy-bear picture taped up on thecupboard door above it, and began to eat. She did not seem to notice that he had skipped the baby talk. Maybe Princess wasn’t
quite
so fussy after all.
    Mmmm, delicious. Not a single lump. Just how I like it.
    Charles watched, fascinated, as Princess nibbled daintily at her food and lapped up droplets of water with her tiny pink tongue. It was kind of true what Dad and Lizzie said: A dog this tiny was
like
a dog, but so, so different from what Charles was used to. Compared to Princess, Buddy looked like a jolly giant, chomping away at his Beefy Chunks and then slurping splashily at his dented metal water bowl while his collar tags clanked against the side.
    After the puppies had eaten, the Peterson family had their own dinner. Afterward, Charles played with Buddy and Princess in the livingroom, tossing a ratty old sock monkey for Buddy (it was his favorite toy these days) and a miniature pink tennis ball for Princess. (PLAYTIME: Part One. Princess will play with: A) Her pink tennis ball, or B) The pink butterfly tug toy.) Both puppies had a great time tearing after their toys and prancing back to Charles with their tails held pridefully high and their prizes clutched in their jaws.
    Mom came down after putting the Bean to bed and told Charles it was almost his bedtime, too. “And you’d better read this section,” she said to Charles, pointing to a spot on the List. He looked down at the page and sighed.
    BEDTIME: Part One
    A) Princess sleeps in her palace, with her three favorite bedtime toys: her stuffed ladybug, her pink squirrel, and her squeaky saucer. . . .

CHAPTER FIVE
    The next morning, Charles decided to try an experiment. Maybe Princess wasn’t
really
all that spoiled. After all, he hadn’t baby-talked when he’d called her to dinner and she’d still come right away. For breakfast, instead of following the List, he just gave Princess a small serving of Baxter’s Beefy Chunks in a