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Dally ventured out of the garage and into the morning sunlight. Everywhere she looked it was quiet; almost like her suburban house back home. In any case, she had been here for three days now; Pup was currently working on her broken down Gremlin and wouldn't be done for quite a while. Yesterday had been cloudy, so hopefully she could manage to catch some sun on the beach. Before she left, she turned back to the open garage door and called,

"Pup! Are you sure you're gonna be alright without me?"

"Don't worry about me, Dall!" Pup called from under the car, "I've got this under control!"

"Okay!" said Dally, "If you need me, I'll be on the beach!" With that, she walked down the driveway to the street and began walking in the direction of the beach. In a matter of moments, she was on the main road that ran straight through town. To be honest, Dally was a little overwhelmed by Landmine Flats even though it was only three streets wide; but why was that? Dally supposed it was because she had never been in a really small town like this. She had read about them in magazines, but she had never thought that these kinds of places actually existed; or at least she would never wind up in one.

Even as Dally walked around the block, there was no one about. It was almost as though she was walking down the street of a ghost town. One thing she noticed was that Calvin was right about the roads being littered with potholes and cracks; she certainly wouldn't try to drive her car down this kind of road. Suddenly, Dally could swear she heard the whistle of a train. Was there really a train on the tracks? She broke into a run towards the corner and headed towards the sea. As she got closer, she expected to see a train go by, but as the railway station came into full view, no train was there; and no train was coming or going either.

"That's weird," said Dally, "I could have sworn I heard a train whistle." She crossed the street and climbed up the stairs to the station platform. She looked left, and she looked right; but there was no train, not even a trail of smoke, in sight. Not willing to take any chances, she got down off the station platform and crossed the tracks on the crossing section. From there, it was a straight shot to the beach. Unsurprisingly, no one was there. Dally took her towel out of her bag and spread it out on the sand. Then she took off her shirt, revealing a yellow bikini top; and her shorts, revealing a matching bikini bottom. She put her clothes safely into her beach bag so no one would try to snatch them; but then again, who was around to snatch them? After pitching her umbrella and applying some sunscreen, Dally ran down the beach and dove into the water. After swimming laps up and down the shore for an hour and a half, she came out, went back up to her umbrella, put on her sunglasses, and lay down on her towel for some sunbathing. At first, she enjoyed the serenity of this location, but soon, with nothing to do but watch the waves, it began to get a little boring. For a minute, Dally considered getting up and going into town to get herself an ice cream, but the air was so pleasantly warm, the sun felt so good on her body, and the sound of the waves was so relaxing, she soon began to feel sleepy; to add to that, it was still early in the morning, and she wasn't fully awake yet. After a big yawn, Dally finally nestled into her towel and succumbed to the desire to sleep. She sighed as the soothing sound of the waves filled her ears and faded gently as everything went black.

" WHOOOOOO!!! WHOOOOOO!!!" Dally sat bolt upright at the loud noise in her ears. She couldn't believe what she was hearing; it was that darn train whistle again! As the Dalmatian opened her eyes, she couldn't believe what she was seeing; there were a whole lot of other people on the beach too!

"What?!?" Dally cried, "This doesn't make any sense!" She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision, but no, the people were still there. Desperate to make sense of the situation, she turned to a passing human and said, "Excuse me! Where did all these people come from?"

"We came on the train of course!" the man said with a smile. Dally did a double-take over her shoulder, and over by the station she saw a festive looking train being pulled by a small steam locomotive.

"Oh... Wow..." Dally breathed; she hadn't been imagining the whistle after all! She got up from her towel and began waking up to the station. As she neared the crossing section, she had to dodge all the happy children that were running down the path, eager to get to the beach and into the water. It wasn't until she had crossed over the track that she turned around and looked at all the people going to the beach. "I can't believe it..." she said, "A town like this can't just change in a few minutes..."

"Of course it didn't take a few minutes!" said a deep but cheerful voice. Dally turned around in surprise to see a stout Dalmatian with a mustache standing behind her. He was wearing a suit with a sash of ribbons and he looked quite important. "It took us two weeks to plan for this great celebration!"

"Who are you?" asked Dally.

"Oh," said the Dalmatian, "How rude of me... I am Alexander J. Dimeworth, and I am the mayor of Landmine Flats!"

"I... I don't get it..." said Dally, "When I first arrived here... there wasn't anything here; no train, no beachgoers; the road wasn't even paved right!" Mayor Dimeworth came forward and gently put his hand on her shoulder.

"My dear..." he said with a smile, "I know that Landmine Flats isn't the big bustling metropolis you're used to these days, but we take great pride in our town! It is a very friendly place!" Dally looked all around her. Everywhere she looked, she could see people smiling, hear them laughing, and feel the curious sensation of happiness. Slowly, her astonished look grew into a smile.

"You're right..." she said, "With everything going on around me... I just can't help but feel happy."

"Come..." said Mr. Dimeworth, "Let's take a walk." He held out his hand, and Dally placed her hand in his. Then, he led her off down the street. Dally still didn't know what this was all about, but at this point, she was finding it hard to care.

Mayor Dimeworth took Dally on a lovely walk through Landmine Flats. Dally was surprised to discover that it wasn't just the beach, but the whole town that was alive and bustling with activity. There was even a small fair taking place on the second street!

"You see, miss..." said Mayor Dimeworth, "One of the reasons our town is such a great place is that it isn't really that big. There's no room for any corporate companies to move in here; all the businesses here are home or family owned."

"And that way, everyone in the community helps everyone by doing their business." said Dally; she was beginning to catch on.

"Precisely!" said Mayor Dimeworth, "When everyone knows that they can always rely on their friends and neighbors to help them, what you've got is a very simple town, where everyone knows everyone, and life can be whatever you make of it."

"This is wonderful!" said Dally, "Pup has to know about this!" She ran off heading for the garage; she didn't even hear Mayor Dimeworth call something after her. She just knew that Pup would love to take a break and join in the fun. But as she rounded the corner, she got a rather big shock. The garage building was there, but it was empty. There was no one inside; not even a name above the door. Dally just stood there, open mouthed, and staring. Mayor Dimeworth caught up to her and said,

"My goodness, miss, you can certainly run fast!"

"Wha... What happened?" asked Dally, "Why isn't Pup's garage here?"

"Pup?" asked Mayor Dimeworth, "Who's Pup?"

"Pup McGarth!" said Dally, "The mechanic who's fixing my car for me." Mayor Dimeworth shrugged and said,

"I'm sorry, miss, but the one thing we don't have in our town is a mechanic." Dally just stared at him; what could be going on here? Mayor Dimeworth looked at Dally and said, "Are you feeling okay? You look a little shocked."

"Well..." said Dally, "If I'm honest, I am a little shocked, but I can't really explain why."

"It's alright;" said Mayor Dimeworth, "Is there something that might make you feel better?"

"There is;" said Dally, "I'd like to go back to the beach and go back to sleep."

"Well if that'll make you feel better, that's okay with me." said Mayor Dimeworth, "And remember; just because we don't have the festival every day, doesn't mean that Landmine Flats can't be a wonderful place."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Dally, "And thanks for showing me around." With that, she set off walking back to the beach. When she arrived, the crowd was still there; everyone having a wonderful time playing in the sun. She just walked through the crowd back to her towel, all the while trying to make sense of what was going on. How did the town change so quickly? And where in the world was Pup? As Dally lay back down on her towel, she felt the same tired sensation sweep over her. At this point, all she wanted was to get back to where she was supposed to be; wherever that was. Her eyes closed, and she could hear the laughter of the children fade out as sleep overcame her.

As Dally regained conciseness, she could only hear the sound of the waves on the beach; and sure enough, when she looked up, she was once again the only one on the beach. One thing had changed, though; the sky was now orange with the telltale signs of approaching evening.

"Oh my gosh!" she cried, "Did I really sleep for that long?!?" She quickly got up and looked around. Everything she had just seen was now gone. "Wow..." Dally said to herself, "What was all that? Did I actually experience that; or was it all just a crazy, vivid dream? Maybe I should see a psychiatrist."

"Dally!" called a voice, "There you are!" Dally looked up behind her; it was Pup, running down towards her.

"Hi, Pup!" she called, "Boy... You don't know how glad I am to see you."

"Thanks!" said Pup, "And you're about to become even happier! Your car... she is fixed!"

"Really?!?" asked Dally, "I've got to see it!" She quickly threw her clothes on over her bikini, packed up her beach stuff, and followed Pup up the path to the road. As they came over the top, Dally caught the first glance of her car; and was she in for a shock.

"Surprise!" said Pup. The Gremlin had been completely transformed. The engine's oil filter was sticking out of the hood, giving it a badass hotrod look; the headlights had special covers to make them look like angry eyes; there was a cool looking exhaust pipe on the back; and the door was now decorated with a large number ten! Dally squealed with surprise and delight as she saw what her Gremlin had become.

"OH MY GOD!!" she said, "I LOVE IT!!! IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!"

"I thought you might!" said Pup, "And trust me when I say it drives a lot better than it looks."

"Can I try it out?" asked Dally.

"Of course you can;" said Pup, "I can't let it go until the customer is satisfied." That was all Dally needed to hear; she ran over to the driver's door and climbed in. She was surprised to see that Pup had also done a little interior decorating. Pup then climbed into the passenger seat and said, "You're going to be the talk of your school with this sweet ride."

"It's just incredible..." said Dally, "Well... here goes!" She turned the ignition, and the Gremlin came alive as the Corvette engine growled under the hood.

"Go on!" said Pup, "Open the taps! See what this old girl can do!" Dally shifted into drive and pressed on the accelerator. The Gremlin's tires screeched as they spun on the asphalt and made some smoke; then it launched off like a racecar! The acceleration was so great that soon, they were at the end of the street and Dally had to hit the brakes; which wasn't a problem as the stopping distance had greatly improved. Dally was amazed; she just couldn't believe that this car was her old lemon.

"This is awesome!" she said, "I have to admit, Pup, I didn't think you'd be able to fix this old beater; but... I am blown away by what an amazing car you've turned it into."

"I'll admit it was a challenging project;" said Pup, "It's hard to give such a powerful jolt to such an old car without breaking it; but overall, I think this is one of the finest cars I've ever worked on. But... I think you should do some testing on it before I write a price tag for it."

Dally and Pup spent the next hour testing all the aspects of Dally's hopped up Gremlin. They tested the acceleration, braking, handling, suspension, and the range. Everything about the car just amazed Dally; it was better than she ever could have hoped for. Finally, she brought the car back to the garage and parked it inside.

"Well..." said Pup, "I take it the customer is satisfied?"

"The customer is satisfied!" said Dally, "It's got the power of a genuine rally car and it's just better than ever."

"Okay then..." said Pup, "Taking into account the parts, hours, and difficulty level of the job... I'd say it comes to about one hundred and sixty dollars."

"One hundred and sixty?" asked Dally, "Are you sure? I thought it would be more than that."

"It wasn't that hard;" said Pup, "The engine and gearbox were the hardest part; everything else was just cosmetic."

"Okay then," said Dally. She reached into her purse and pulled out her checkbook. After writing a check for the money she owed, she handed it to Pup and said, "Here you are, payment in full."

"Thank you very much;" said Pup as he accepted the check.

"You're quite welcome." said Dally. There really wasn't much else to say, so the two of them went upstairs to settle in for the night.

A few minutes later, Pup was preparing dinner, and Dally was wondering what her friend Meghan might be up to. Most likely she was negotiating a higher price for babysitting with a kid's father; the very thought of such a thing made Dally wince in disgust. Then... her mind drifted back to the strange vision she had while on the beach. A part of her wanted to tell Pup about it, but another part said she should just keep quiet. After debating it for a few minutes, she decided she would tell him.

"Pup..." she said, "You'll never guess what happened to me while I was on the beach today."

"Really?" asked Pup, "What was it?"

"Well..." said Dally, "As I got there, I heard a strange whistling noise; like the whistle of a train. Only when I got to the station, there wasn't any train there."

"Interesting," said Pup, "That never happens to me when I go down there to go swimming."

"But that's not the half of it;" said Dally, "I went to sleep on the beach, and when I woke up, there were lots of people on the beach! And there was even a train in the station and a fair on Second Street!"

"You don't say!" said Pup, "That must have been really, really nice to see!"

"It was!" said Dally, "But there was one thing that confused me; your garage building was here, but you weren't. The building was just empty; they even told me that the town didn't have a mechanic." Pup was now looking at Dally with a surprised look on his face. Dally was worried that he might think she was crazy.

"Well..." he said, "That's... pretty amazing. If I didn't know better, I'd say you had a vision of what the town once was; long before I arrived."

"I think you're right;" said Dally, "So then I went back to the beach and went to sleep again; and when I woke up... there you were."

"That is strange," said Pup, "Very strange indeed." Then he said, "Well... It was really nice having you here, Dally; I uh... guess you'll be on your way in the morning." Dally thought for a moment, and then said,

"No... as a matter of fact, Pup, I think I'd like to spend one more day here before I go home; and I'd like to spend it with you."

"Really?" asked Pup, "Well... I would be honored to spend the day with you, Dally. We can do whatever you like; my treat."

"Thanks," said Dally, "It's a date!" The two canines then took their dinner over to the sofa to eat while they watched a movie. As they watched, Dally snuck a mischievous glance over at Pup as she worked a plan up in her head. Pup had done a lot for her the past few days, and to be honest, after all the time they had spent together, she really liked him a lot. Tomorrow evening, it would be her turn to do something for him.

To Be Concluded...