Code Kitchen Table

“Berry. Berry,” a voice hissed urgently.
The brown bear looked up in annoyance from the paper he was currently reading, “What is it Dame?”
The head of the Great Dame timidly poked up from the side of the arm chair and gave him a mournful look, “We have a code Kitchen Table.” Berry felt fear strike through him and he quickly pushed himself to the ground with a soft grunt. He wondered how come he was always the one who had to fix everything before remembering how Dame, who was almost as big as him, was shyer than a rabbit and on more than one occasion was actually frightened by a passing rabbit.

Berry made his way to the kitchen, his claws leaving marks on the hardwood floor, and the dog followed behind. The thought that they should find more carpet flitted through his mind before he caught sight of a quivering bushy, black and white tail that stuck out from underneath the tablecloth. The situation was even worse than he had thought judging by the force at which the cloth was shaking.

“Martha, come out,” Berry said gently to the skunk, “There’s nothing to be scared of.”
“No, I won’t come out, I won’t, I won’t,” Martha replied, a quiver in her voice. Her tail rose a few centimeters, alarming the other two.
Dame slowly wriggled forward as silently as he could, his belly sliding on the floor, “Why not Martha?” he whimpered. Berry could tell from his voice that Dame was giving Martha the special look he always used to convince people to do things.
“Look outside,” she said. Berry lifted himself onto his hind legs and rested his front paws on the counter, peering out of the grimy window. There was a dark figure resting against a tree.
“Well, what is it?” Dame asked.
“It’s hard to tell, we really need to wash this window, but something is resting against a tree. It’s probably a deer.”
“You’ll have to visit the cat soon. I hear she’s preparing the house for new kittens and right now, she’s cleaning like crazy,” Dame said as he stuck his head through the dog flap, peering outside. Suddenly, he gave a yelp before running underneath the table, his tail between his legs.
“What is it? Another rabbit?” Berry asked. He tried to stick his head through the flap, but whereas Dame was just barely small enough, Berry was entirely too large. About to open the door, Martha yelled at him, “No, no! It’s too dangerous!”
“It’s, it’s horrible,” Dame said, covering his eyes with his paws. Now annoyed, but as his nose was begging him to not further alarm the skunk, Berry contorted his body in many various, and painful, ways before finally managing to stick his head outside.

Blinking his eyes in surprise, he said, “It’s a hu-”
“DON’T SAY IT! THEY’RE SUMMONED WHEN YOU SAY IT!” Martha screeched, stomping her feet. That was enough to cause Dame to nervously edge away a little.
“Alright Martha, calm down, I’ll get rid of the… you-know-who. Just lower your tail.” Berry wriggled upright with some difficulty, and walked to the front of the house.
“Be careful,” Dame stuck his head out as Berry ambled by. The bear exited and walked to the backyard. He peered around the corner, carefully assessing the human who was sleeping against their apple tree. He had a large straw hat and his hands were empty. There was no trace of the hard, narrow rock that made loud noises. It was a simple enough procedure.
Berry snarled, stalking forward. The human flinched, and lifted his head, looking around in a daze before his gaze settled on the large bear that was currently showing his very impressive teeth. Gulping, the man jumped up and with a final cry, ran into the surrounding woods. Satisfied, Berry sat down, scratched his ear and returned to the house where Dame and Martha were emerging from their hiding spot.
“Thanks Berry!” Martha said cheerfully as she bustled around the kitchen looking for something to eat. Berry grunted and returned to his newspaper in the living room, hoping that the rest of this week could pass without another crisis.
"You were great Berry," Dame said, his tail wagging.
"We really need to install a fence," Berry replied, "I don't want another code Kitchen Table."