Blog, Shorts, Writing

The Heckhound

8 Comments
We got our psychic vampire from a breeder
We got our psychic vampire from a breeder

That first week was fun. We thought it was adorable, the way Butterscotch rubbed her snout on the carpet until she sneezed, the way she kicked her little ears until her tags jingled. She walked around the lake with her tongue out and her rump held high.

Joggers guessed what mix she was, asking what shelter we got her from.

Rolling our eyes, we said, “We rescued her from a breeder.”

Two weeks later, we scoured the net to find the breeder’s site had mysteriously disappeared.

It wasn’t that Butterscotch peed on the carpet too much, it’s that when she did it was in the shape of a pentagram, never spilling a drop outside the circle. It wasn’t that she begged for the chicken in my hand, it’s that with one bark the drumstick vanished only to reappear inside her jaws. It wasn’t that she tugged on her leash, it’s that when she did we jumped entire blocks, materializing into oncoming traffic.

Butterscotch’s bark had bite. There was fire in her puppy dog eyes.

When she snapped at the mailman, his shorts burst into flames. When she marked the hydrant, her urine seared a hole through the iron, making a geyser on the boulevard. When she had trouble jumping onto the mattress, she chomped on the box spring until she’d crushed the corners and made herself a ramp.

Now we’re stuck like this, sleeping diagonally in a pile of toys, treats, and rawhides. We dare not leave, because we know Butterscotch will sniff us out wherever we go.

8 thoughts on “The Heckhound”

  1. I laughed in so many places in this piece, but heck, I wouldn’t want her in my life! Last sentence conjures up that moment we are all afraid of: lying painfully still in case the thing gets us… Great work

    Reply
    1. drewchial – When Drew Chial was very young, he found an attic hidden in his bedroom closet. He discovered it investigating an indentation in the ceiling, nudging it with a broom, until it fell inward. There was no stepladder for him to climb, so he scaled the shelves. Shining his flashlight, he found a long triangular hall, twice the length of his bedroom. Every surface was coated in pink insulation that made his skin itch. Creeping into the basement, Drew stole a sleeping bag that he unrolled on the attic floor. He set a tiny aluminum lock box on top of it. This is where he hid the things he wrote. Now Drew hides them in plain sight.
      drewchial says:

      I kept thinking about the episode of the Twilight Zone (later retold on The Simpsons) where the boy had Godlike powers. When I saw Apex was looking for a hellhound story, I decided to give those powers to a dog.

      The other three flash fiction stories, I’m posting later this month, take a similar approach. 😉

      Reply
  2. rosedandrea – Trying really hard to get these projects out of my head and into the world. And hoping that my doing so will help us afford more babies.
    rosedandrea says:

    That would be terrifying! Nice job, great visuals. 🙂

    Reply
    1. drewchial – When Drew Chial was very young, he found an attic hidden in his bedroom closet. He discovered it investigating an indentation in the ceiling, nudging it with a broom, until it fell inward. There was no stepladder for him to climb, so he scaled the shelves. Shining his flashlight, he found a long triangular hall, twice the length of his bedroom. Every surface was coated in pink insulation that made his skin itch. Creeping into the basement, Drew stole a sleeping bag that he unrolled on the attic floor. He set a tiny aluminum lock box on top of it. This is where he hid the things he wrote. Now Drew hides them in plain sight.
      drewchial says:

      Thanks. Glad you liked the piece… but really it’s exactly how the dog in the picture would be if she had powers

      Reply
      1. rosedandrea – Trying really hard to get these projects out of my head and into the world. And hoping that my doing so will help us afford more babies.
        rosedandrea says:

        I shudder to think what our 2 Labradors would get up to if they had such powers. Jeepers!

    1. drewchial – When Drew Chial was very young, he found an attic hidden in his bedroom closet. He discovered it investigating an indentation in the ceiling, nudging it with a broom, until it fell inward. There was no stepladder for him to climb, so he scaled the shelves. Shining his flashlight, he found a long triangular hall, twice the length of his bedroom. Every surface was coated in pink insulation that made his skin itch. Creeping into the basement, Drew stole a sleeping bag that he unrolled on the attic floor. He set a tiny aluminum lock box on top of it. This is where he hid the things he wrote. Now Drew hides them in plain sight.
      drewchial says:

      This was based on actual events. That photo, that’s Scully on a good day.

      Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply