It was a sunny summer afternoon, the kind that makes meat sizzle just by looking at it. The back garden was alive with the mouth-watering scent of charred sausages, juicy burgers, and that unmistakable smoky perfume of a barbecue in full swing. The humans were busy mingling, distracted by conversation and lemonade refills. This, Athena realized with her nearly white-blue and rich chestnut bi-eyes sparkling with unspoken plans, was not just a family cookout. No, this was destiny.
Athena, a vision of grace and clever mischief wrapped in a coat of back, grey and white floof, surveyed the scene like a military general inspecting the battlefield. She, elegant, intelligent, and as stubborn as a garden hose on a hot day, flicked her tail in anticipation. Her younger, beefier, significantly clumsier brother Obito sat beside her, looking like a hairy couch cushion with legs, his huge paws splayed like dinner plates. His tongue lolled out of his grinning mouth, dripping slobber onto the grass, his tan eyebrows twitching with excitement.
“Operation: Rib Retrieval is a go,” Athena whispered, peering through the slats of the garden fence. “We go in. We grab the goods. We get out. No casualties. Except maybe one decorative gnome.”
Obito blinked, his big brown eyes gleaming with love and mild confusion. “Is there cheese involved?”
“No. Focus. Stay sharp, Mr. Toe Beans,” Athena snapped, tossing him a pair of oversized sunglasses she’d stolen from the patio table earlier. “You’re in disguise. We’re blending in.”
Obito shoved the sunglasses onto his forehead, where they sat like a wonky crown, and somehow managed to look both inconspicuous and incredibly suspicious. Athena donned a floppy straw hat she’d “borrowed” from a garden chair. She looked like a dog detective at a beach resort.
The two began their stealth mission. Athena led the way, leaping with Olympic precision over a flower bed (the one she’d personally excavated last Tuesday), while Obito crashed directly through a decorative trellis, knocking it flat and dragging a string of fairy lights behind him like a sparkling tail.
They reached the BBQ table. It was magnificent. A fortress of food, a palace of pork, a bounty of buns. Sausages lay glistening, burger patties stacked like golden treasure, chicken wings so aromatic they practically whispered, “Take me.”
Athena stood on her hind legs like a circus performer and expertly snatched a dangling bratwurst from the edge of the platter. She dropped it into a tote bag she’d hidden under the hedge earlier. “Clean. Precise. Like a ninja,” she murmured.
Obito, however, took a more… interpretive approach. He launched himself upward, all 110 pounds of Malamute momentum, and belly-flopped directly into the table. The world slowed. A platter flipped into the air in a slow-motion ballet of meat. Sausages flew like greasy confetti. A bottle of ketchup exploded across a lawn flamingo. Someone screamed.
Athena, refusing to abandon the mission, dove heroically under the collapsing table and emerged triumphantly with a rack of ribs in her jaws, only to be met face-to-face with Grandma Doris holding a spatula like a battle axe.
Obito, meanwhile, was rolling in the potato salad, giggling (yes, he somehow giggles), with a hot dog stuck to his back and a grilled corn cob balanced on his head like a crown.
“Athena! Obito!” shouted their human from across the garden. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
Athena froze, ribs clenched in her teeth, eyes wide with guilt and grace. Obito stood up proudly, a full string of sausages dangling from his mouth like a victory necklace. He wagged his tail so hard he knocked over a cooler.
The guests erupted into laughter. The chaos was too perfect, too ridiculous to be anything but hilarious. Someone actually clapped. Someone else took photos. The BBQ was briefly postponed for a full-scale clean-up, during which Obito tried to "help" by licking the grill, the chairs, and two small children.
Athena, now resting in a shady spot under the table with a satisfied look, nibbled delicately on a rescued rib. Obito lay beside her, covered in mustard and glory, panting and grinning, his toe beans twitching with pride.
“Not exactly how I planned it,” Athena said between bites.
Obito licked her ear affectionately and snorted. “Best. Heist. Ever.”
And so, “The Great BBQ Heist” passed into legend. Guests would talk about it for years. Athena became known as the Crafty Princess of Pork, and Obito, the Love Bug of the Barbecue Battle. They never quite got another chance like that, but every time they heard the sizzle of the grill, their eyes would meet across the garden, and they’d know, the sausages remembered. And so did they.


©️Lainey Green - Intwined.blog