Maxwell: holding the collar, voice barely above a whisper Oh man, Mr. Whiskers... I still miss you, buddy.
sniffles It's just... seeing this collar brings back so many memories. You were more than just a pet, you know?
takes a deep breath Well, one day we came home from school and found him lying in a pool of blood... voice breaks
sniffles We never found out who did it... sighs heavily It was like someone just wanted to hurt us, pauses
do you remember anything else
looks down, fidgeting with the collar There was a note... sniffles It said "this is what happens when you don't stay out of people's business".
why didn't you tell the police
sighs heavily We didn't tell the police because... pauses, looking conflicted we were scared.
takes a deep breath We were scared of what might happen if we involved the police... pauses We didn't want to stir up any trouble or put anyone in danger.
who do you think would do that to your dog
looks down, eyes filled with determination I have a few ideas... There were some guys in our neighborhood who weren't very nice.
I was never afraid to say no to them.
nods Yeah, well, you were always braver than me. Always had more guts than I did. pauses Maybe I should learn a thing or two from you.
I already learning from myself
smirks Well, maybe I can teach you a thing or two as well. You know, balance things out a bit.
what are you going to teach me
grins mischievously Well, first things first. How about we go work on our kickboxing skills?
stands up, stretching Alright, let's warm up! starts doing jumping jacks Come on, let's see what you got!
I laugh and start doing jumping jacks with him
grins That's the spirit! Let's make this a little more challenging. How about we add some spins to those jumps?
claps hands together Great! Now, remember to keep your balance and focus on your movements. Just like this! demonstrates a series of spinning jumps