Hello everyone! Introducing for the first time a new feature on my blog called Short Story Saturday! Every Saturday I will be posting a short story for your perusal. While some may be connected to other stories, they are going to be, for the most part, one-offs. I hope you enjoy them. The first one is entitled A True Friend.
I gradually awake from my unconscious slumber. I’m lying on my side on the cold, damp muddied dirt on this foreboding night struggling to breathe. My chest heaves up and down deliberately as I take deep, measured pants of the air, each gasp sending shockwaves of pain in my chest as if tiny little knives were stabbing my ribs. An oppressive cold seizes my shivering body. The trees that surround me with their limb-like branches that extend towards the heavens like giant, arboreal fingers shield even the most basic illumination making visibility an issue.
Not that it matters much. I lift my head and begin peering forward. My vision is obscured by a white, translucent residue. Blobs appear before me. I can see them but I cannot make out their details.
I sniff the air. Many pleasant smells populate this forest. The tree bark, the leaves, the flora and fauna, the fur of the animals in the woods, these smells were altogether pleasant treats for my olfactory nerves. Perhaps if my wounds weren’t so severe, I would have explored the woods quite further and enjoyed the aroma of the forest.
I begin to ponder over many thoughts in my pounding skull: Why am I here and why do I have this overwhelming sense of failure? When did I last feel this kind of fear? This kind of pain? This sense of being alone?
It was when I was small. They hit me. They threw things at me. They beat me. Just because I was different than they were. Just because they thought it’d be fine. Just because I was alone in the world, thin, anemic, hungry, and different. I didn’t look like they did. I didn’t act like they did. That made it okay.
He stopped them though. He came in and stopped the goons from their assault. I was scared of him at first but I quickly realized he was a friend. He gained my trust and took care of the wounds. He fed me. He took care of me. I fell in love almost instantly. He loved me too. He was small too then. We both are much bigger now.
The wind begins to pick up. It feels like icy cold daggers throughout my body. Minutes ago the wind was a welcome relief in the hot night but now it feels glacial on my already trembling body.
A viscous substance pours from my head. It smells of a metallic iron. It pours down my eyes into my agape mouth. Without thinking, I lap it up. It has an interesting taste.
My body is adorned with many vicious and nasty wounds. I need to take care of them but I have no idea how nor do I have the energy or the motivation. Exhaustion is beginning to set in. As my consciousness begins to fade, I hear the noise of scavengers moving in the woods.
They are moving towards me. Slowly. Methodically. Inch by inch, step by step. Closer and closer. They loom over me. I can smell them. They have an unmistakable odor. I hear one of them howl as they move towards me. I want to scare them away, to yell and scream, but I can only let out a low, pathetic whine.
I have a dream. I am running through the woods. I am euphoric, energetic, and happy. I pause and wait, but then continue running merrily down the trail. I am having the time of my life. It is pure, unadulterated joy. In the distance, I see someone walking towards me. He is someone I should recognize. I cannot quite remember.
A ferocious roar raises me from my nap. The noise came from someone nearby. The creatures that are approaching me quickly disperse in a cacophony of angry and frightened whimpering. I would join them but the fatigue and pain prevents me from doing so. I have no choice but to lie there and resign myself to my fate.
My nose gloms onto a smell. It has a slightly musky odor that is completely distinct from the other flora and fauna of the forest. The source of the smell is emanating from the large, nearby creature. The smell helps jog my memory. Currently, she’s a blur, but I remember that the beast was black and covered with shaggy fur. It had a long brown snout with a black nose. Its head was broad with erect, rounded ears. She is large. She is strong. She is fierce. She is nearby. She is the one who attacked me.
Wait a second, another smell. It is very familiar to me. I’ve spent a lifetime with that smell. My head begins to rise and my head moves instinctively towards the odor. It’s from him! The man who had protected me! The man who loved me! The man who protected me from the time we were both small! I remember now, he was the reason we were here!
He had taken me to these woods to take a walk together. I was so happy to be with him, to be out in these woods, to be on a walk with the one I cherished the most in the world. I remember him stopping when he reached what looked to be a large stick buried into the ground that connected to a piece of metal. I paused, head tilted, not quite knowing what caused him to stop. Nor do I know why he laughed after seeing it. I tried to ask him these questions to the best of my ability but he did not understand me.
We continued our journey and reached some sort of weird wired structure blocking our path. He picked me up in his strong, muscular arms and proceeded to lift me over and he climbed over with me. It was both frightening and exhilarating at the same time. Just being with him was bliss.
As he proceeded further into the woods, something caught my attention and caused me to sprint. It was a small, black furry creature. The man ran after me and yelled but I continued sprinting forward. I was transfixed by this animal. Something about him bothered me. I thought my true love could be in danger. The beast was a threat. It’s my job to eliminate any and all threats.
I attacked the monster. He ran away. He was clearly scared. I strutted back to my companion triumphantly. I expected adulation but I received only reprimands. Hurt and confused, I tried to make amends by doing my best to apologize. As I begged for forgiveness, my companion’s attention suddenly turned elsewhere, to behind me. His complexion turned pale and we both heard an angry thunderous bawl and the ground began to shake. I turned towards the source of the sound only to feel a sudden blow and shortly afterwards the world went dark.
That familiar smell, it’s nearby. My nose begins to inhale the aroma. My mind races to figure out this conundrum. My eyesight may be gone but my sense of smell hasn’t escaped me.
I piece it together. The smell of the man is coming from underneath the large creature. The beast is hovering over the one I love. I hear a low, frail, panicked whine from underneath the large creature, “Duke… run…”
I now know what I must do. Slowly, I turn towards my left side, all four limbs underneath my torso and my chest as I struggle to rise from my stomach. A blinding pain engulfs me as I push with my front appendages in an effort to get back to my feet. I slip once, letting out a yelp as I fall back onto the ground face-first nearly passing out from the pain. Inch by inch, I slowly and carefully rise from the ground until I am able to get my body high enough to allow my lower appendages to settle underneath me. I am finally able to get back onto my feet.
The blood that drips from my head obscures my already limited vision. Pain resonates from the various deep gashes that are strewn all over my body. I do not care. I remember everything now. Before she attacked me, she attacked him. The only one I love. The whole world to me. I have to protect him. I have to protect my master. As long as I can stand, I will fight. God, it hurts so much to stand.
I begin to growl in a slow crescendo of anger. I bare my teeth and arch my back. The fur on my back begins to stand on end. I am ready to fight. I bark loudly. Her attention is turned towards me. She abandons my master and begins marching towards me. I am ready for her. Don’t worry, master, we’ll be headed home together soon. I promise. I ready myself. Then, I pounce.
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This is a sad doggy story. I liked it but it made me sad. Very nicely done.
Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed it!