Stories For The Dark

My New Dog

I went to the animal shelter a couple weeks ago and adopted a beautiful young golden retriever. He is the smartest dog I ever met. Within days he knew 'sit', 'stay', and 'roll over'. I even thought him the old trick where you make a gun with your hand and say "bang", and he rolls over onto his back and plays dead. The problem with that is, dogs are much better with hand signals than voice cues, so now, as soon as I make a finger gun, he rolls over onto his back and eagerly looks at me for his treat.

I'm sitting on the couch watching a movie in the dark and my puppy is on the hardwood floor in-front of me, chewing on his new toy. He looks up towards me, pauses, then rolls onto his back, his tongue out and begging for a treat. I realize he's looking over my head, beyond the couch.

The floor behind me creaks.