Walking Your Dog

It's late at night and your dog has been beckoning you to take it on a walk. With no hope of him letting up, you decide to give it what it has been desiring.

You slip on some slippers and you grab its leash. But before you decide to go off, where do you wish to go?

 ''for "through the woods", go to part 1 ''for "around the neighborhood", go to part 3 for "back to bed", re-read this paragraph.

Part 1: Through the Woods You decide to take your dog on a walk through the woods. It's awfully dark and you can barely see anything except the moon peeking through the slips in the tree tops.

The uncomfortable silence is terribly unsettling and you begin to feel a bit anxious. Your dog begins to whimper and your anxiety level increases. You then hear a shuffling sound emanating from the nearby bushes and you want to check it out.

What do you do?

 ''for "being a coward", go back to the first paragraph ''for "checking out the sound" go to 4 for "venturing onward" go to part 2

Part 2: Venturing Onward Because you were too afraid to check out the sound, you find yourself closing in on the neighborhood. In the distance you see a dark figure. What is someone doing up at this time of night?

Your dog begins to bark, alerting the attention of the figure, having it scurry away before seeing who it was which heightens your suspicion. You begin to feel staring eyes burn through you and from this point, you know you aren't alone.

Your dog starts to bark loudly and pull you closer towards the neighborhood.

What do you do?

 ''for "still being a coward" go to the first paragraph ''for going back and "checking out the sound" go to part 4 for checking "around the neighborhood" go to part 3

Part 3: Around the Neighborhood There doesn't seem to be a person in sight and nothing seemed out of place. Your dog is panting and by now you already know something is wrong.

You continue to walk your dog around and by this time he's starting to get tired, a good sign, and a sign to turn back and finish the walk.

As you're about to turn around, you see a dark figure with a hunched stature. It looked hardly human and disfigured. Long, scrawny white limbs and no clothing (as far as you can see).

Your heart is banging within your chest and sweat beads at your brow. What do you decide to do?

 ''for "being a coward" go to the first paragraph ''for "approaching the creature" go to part 6 for "running through the forest" go to part 5

Part 4: Checking out the Sound You're terrified and yet your curiosity is boiling over and you can't hold in your excitement. What could possibly be beyond these bushes?

Your excitement comes to an end when you find a pile of scat; squirrel scat to be exact. You release a sigh and begin to return to walking... but something is amiss...

Where is your dog? He somehow managed to escape the tight grasp of his collar. Trying not to panic, you begin yelling out your dog's name. With no response, panicking seems like the only other option at the moment. You begin going through the thickets and bushes and ferns... but at what cost?

You turned around abruptly to face a hunched over figure with piercing, pitch eyes that seemed to never end with a long, oval-shaped mouth defined with stubby razor teeth resembling that of a shark. Its arms drag across the damp ground and have cuts that stand out against its pure white skin. The scent of petrichor and formaldehyde was overwhelming and all you can think about is your total, utter wanweird. But, the creature did not move and you then realized that you could possibly get away. Although your dog was nowhere in sight, you start thinking... What should you do

 ''for "escaping" go to part 7 for "approaching the creature" go to part 6

Part 5: Running through the Forest You can barely hear anything except your breathing and the sound of your dog's pattering paws. It was so quiet you can quite literally hear the adrenaline pumping through your veins.

As you're coming close to the end of the forest you hear a sound coming through the bushes off to the side. Your curiosity is peaking so you decide you want to check it out...

 for "checking out the sound" go to part 4

Part 6: Approaching the Creature You slowly walk towards it, each step getting louder and as you get within a foot of the shadowing creature you can feel its stench begin to take effect. It's too overpowering and you feel faint as you stagger forward.

For some odd reason, you aren't afraid of this towering creature... yet, you feel lypophernia and your eyes begin to water up and tears are shed. You do not know where this affinity is being derived from but all you do know is your legs are weakening. You fall on your knees and a euphonious ringing takes over every other sound.

Where are you? What's going on?

This creature is somehow finding a way to paralyze and sedate you just by peering down at you. You begin to lose vision but your sense of touch is stronger than anything. You feel yourself getting lifted and then the sensation of something breaking through your skin. You scream. Although you can't hear it, you feel your throat being stretched and the extraction of your life then... suddenly nothing at all. You are nothing but a body. A dead, worthless, decomposing body.

Part 7: Escaping Drapetomania overcomes your body. You trip over yourself and make a run for the end of the trees. You're still not giving up on your dog, looking side to side yelling out his name.

Tears falling, getting your feet snagged on rocks, you close up on your dwelling and you unlock the door and slam it shut. You dwale around nervously, still crying. You want to call the police, but who will believe you? You'll be locked up in some insane asylum. You suddenly hear a familiar noise.

What is that? You can barely make it out.

Your dog! Yes, it has to be!

You run out the front door to be met with, what looked like, your dog. But, this was no dog. This was a mutilation. Nothing was left except a bloody mess and a beating heart somehow. You examine the remains closely and it hits you.

It can't bark. How did it do such a thing? How did it end up here? And that's when you saw it. The creature. Little to say that was the last thing you saw before you joined your dog in a mutilated mess. However, you did not die. Like all things that cheat the ways of death, you were left in a bitter suffering.