Dukey was terrified, and rightly so, because here in front of him stood a man who by all appearances was dead calm, when he should be fuming, at least. And speaking of dead calm, Dukey was also frightened that he would end up just-plain-dead, not just mostly dead, which is still partly alive, but<em>all</em>dead.<br/><br/>That's when he heard it. Could it be? No, she wouldn't...but sure enough, the familiar cough and wheeze of Belle's engine, and the squeak of her brakes and suspension was enough to bring him out of his petrified state, and when the sound of the truck door slamming closed reached his ears, he ran for the door, through the newly-formed cloud of dust, smoke, and sawdust, shouting, "Mom! Mom! Get me outta here! He wants to kill me!"<br/><br/>He tripped on the edge of a rug, and fell flat on his face with a heavy thud. Without waiting to get his wind back, or to see if he had broken anything...of value, he scrambled to his feet and made for the exit in a rush, running outside and nearly toppling his mother, as she was on her way to the door. "Oh, thank God..." Dukey was now gasping for air, after his feat with the sledge hammer, which had left his grasp when he tumbled, and the sprint he had just made to get as far away from Mr. Klutz as possible. "That man," he panted, "in there...is...gonna sand me...to death..." He suddenly realized how that sounded and continued, "He's a...monster..."<br/><br/>He turned back to face the open front door of the Klutz home, standing in front of Sukey while looking around for something to defend them with. Seeing nothing of use, he stood to his full height, puffed out his chest, and put up his dukes. Dukey's Dukes, they were known back in his younger days, when he would get in schoolyard brawls, but this was now. It mattered, as this would be a fight for his life, and the life of the woman who meant the most to him, up to this point.<br/><br/>He saw movement through the window, and steadied himself.<br/><br/>What he failed to notice was that if he backed away, or was pushed back, he would end up in a rather large mud puddle right behind him, between his mother and himself.