Back in about 2010, I wrote a goofy little short story that basically cast the Coda boys in a ridiculous Scooby-Doo plot. It was never intended to be a "real" story. It was certainly never meant to be a serious part of the Coda universe. It was nothing but a lark, full of Scooby references and really bad sex puns. I posted it on my website as just a fun little thing (rookie mistake), and the next thing I know, this ridiculous little non-story has a listing on GR and reviews and everything. Ugh. That will teach me to publish things on my website for fun. 😂

I've tried over and over again to delete all traces of the Scooby story from Goodreads and from my past, and yet I still receive questions about it several times each year. So now I'm trying THIS — making this page on my website — to try to head things off.

Pease trust me when I say, you don't want to read the Scooby story. In fact, how about this? I'm going to share the one and only part of the story that might be considered funny.

***

[This is from Jared's POV. It's Jared, Matt, Zach, and Angelo searching an old mining shaft in the mountains for Jared's missing dog, Scooby.]

Fifteen minutes later, Matt stopped dead in his tracks, causing me to run into him, and Zach to run in to me, and probably Angelo to run into him. “Wait," Matt burst out. "Haven’t we passed that beam twice already?”

“How could we?” I asked. “We haven’t made any turns.”

Matt shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s like every twenty yards, the scenery repeats itself.”

“I have no idea,” I sighed. “All I know is I’m starving. Man, we’ve gotta find Scooby so we can go back to the camp and eat dinner.”

Zach suddenly burst out laughing. Matt turned his flashlight on Zach, and we both stared at him puzzlement.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Don’t you see?” Zach asked, still laughing. “We keep passing the same background over and over. You’re following a dog named Scooby. You haven’t had a haircut in god knows how long, and you can’t stop talking about how hungry you are.”

“Are you saying I’m Shaggy?” I asked, trying not sound even more annoyed, which only made Zach laughed harder. “I’m definitely not Shaggy!”

“I think you might be,” Zach laughed.

“If I’m Shaggy, then you’re Fred.”

“Why does he get to be Fred?” Matt asked.

“Are you kidding? Look at him. We’re camping, and he’s wearing an Oxford shirt with a sweater over it. And loafers! All he needs is a red scarf around his neck.”

“Hey guys?” Angelo suddenly called. He was a few yards behind us, and when Matt turned the beam of the flashlight his way, we found him hunched over, looking around on the ground. “Does anybody see my sunglasses? They were on my head, and now I can’t find ’em.”

Zach started laughing even harder.

“Are you kidding me?” Matt said indignantly. “I’m Daphne? How can I be Daphne?”

***

I admit, the fact that Matt ended up being Daphne always cracked me up. But that's it. That's far and away the best part of the whole thing. It was all downhill after that.

So please, forget about the Scooby story. If I let you read it, you'd immediately want those ten minutes of your life back. Also, THANK YOU for being such a fan that you'd come to my website in search of a long-lost story. I really do appreciate it!! 😁