nine thousand eight hundred and seventy-six days, a visit, a new beginning, poor mack
- It's been 9,876 days, but who's counting? Ivan is. Using Magic Markers, he draws an X on the wall for every day he's spent with humans.
- Mack makes an early morning visit. He's drunk, mumbling, then disappears for several days without a word. It's kind of an odd grieving ritual, but everyone is dealing with the loss of Stella in their own unique way.
- When Mack returns, he's determined to teach Ruby some tricks for the show.
- Her feet are tied together so she can't run, but Ruby is no Stella, and training her proves quite challenging. Her feet might be tied, but she's headstrong.
- That is, until Mack pulls out the claw stick.
- But our girl Ruby won't have any of that old school corporal punishment. She's not about to let Mack run the show, so she gives him the old trunk thwack across the mid-section, Miss Piggy style, which sends poor old Mack to the ground, a bit humiliated.
- And let's just say there aren't a lot of sympathy cries coming from anyone, human or animal at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade.