The Generous Jester

In honor of Halloween, my friend threw an orange & black themed potluck. There were cheese puffs, squid ink pasta, pumpkin cake rolls, and so much more. She even provided plastic containers so all the guests could take leftovers home with them. I took full advantage of this and looked forward to my next few meals.  

I hopped in the car, still adorned in my jester costume, and began my journey down the dirt road. My friend lived in a rural area, and her driveway was at least a mile long. Once I reached the road, I prepared myself for a dark journey filled with spooky tunes and a plethora of trees on both sides.

After five minutes, I spotted something ahead. As I got closer, I realized it was a dog. It had ash-colored fur, erect ears, and it was frighteningly thin. I stopped the car and it slowly moved to the side of the road. I felt a strange ping in my chest that told me to keep driving, but as I looked at the miserable animal, it looked right back at me, as if pleading for help.

I slowly pulled over, put my car in park, and grabbed the container of food from my passenger seat.

As I approached the dog, I was expecting it to back up in trepidation, as most strays do. But instead, he simply sat down. I knelt down and tossed it a chunk of cake. He immediately trudged towards it and scarfed it down.

“Aww you were hungry, huh buddy? Poor thing. Here, have some more.” I plopped a couple more chunks on the ground, this time a bit closer to my hand. He approached and finished them off too. I steadily put my hand out and waited. He stared at me while licking the sugary frosting from his jaws. He took five more steps and sniffed my hand. Then, he rested his head against it! I grinned widely, stunned at the immediate trust of this creature. He must’ve been craving affection! 

“You are such a sweetie, yes you are. Who’s a good boy?” I cooed as I scratched behind his ears. His tail wagged and he began nuzzling my arm and whimpered excitedly. It rubbed against my legs and fell over on its back so I could scratch his poor, scraggly stomach.  

“You’ve got to be starving. Here, have some more.” I held out a muffin, but instead of accepting it, he got up and walked closer to the trees and let out a bark.

Confused, I stood up and watched him. He approached me once more, whimpering, and rubbed against my legs before returning to the trees and looking back at me.

“Do you want me to follow you?” It barked once more.

My chest pinged again, but those pitiful eyes…I just couldn’t refuse them. Maybe it had a litter of puppies that needed aid.  

I walked closer to the mysterious mutt, and it wagged its tail as it began leading me through the trees. We hiked only a short distance before coming into a small clearing. The sound of owls hooting mixed with the sight of the full moon was true October perfection.  

Piles of clothes were spread across the ground, almost in a blanket-like manner. My new furry friend barked once more and began running in circles, before laying on the fabric and rolling around.

I laughed. “What is it, boy? Is this your home?”  

He then hopped onto a wide stump in the middle of the clearing, tilted his head back, and let out a low howl as a breeze passed by.

I took out my phone and began filming with the flashlight feature on. I couldn’t wait to tell my friends about this encounter. Most of us were animal rights activists.

“This is so dope,” I whispered to myself as I continued filming. Then, he stopped. He looked directly at me, panting, but not moving a muscle. I heard shuffling through the trees beside us. I looked to my right. A similar dog appeared.

“Aww wow! So this is why you wanted me to follow. You have a friend!” I opened my container and tossed a pastry at the lanky canine. Before I could see his response, I heard more shuffling. Two more dogs came into view. And then another. And then another. In a matter of seconds, the clearing was now surrounded by at least twenty dogs! It was incredible, like a secret canine society!

“There’s so many of you! I wish I had more. Poor things…” I stated and heaved the food in multiple directions until the container was empty. I went back to filming the original, but this time when I looked at my phone, he was no longer panting. He was in a crouching position.

“You okay buddy? What’s wrong?” He licked his lips. The owls stopped hooting. The wind stopped blowing. 

Then, I heard a growl. I turned around to see one of the dogs had come a bit closer.

“Aww don’t be scared, I’m not going to hurt you.” In my peripheral, I noticed other dogs were slowly advancing too. Although their tails were wagging, they were growling as well.

I backed up a little, growing nervous. I turned to look at my friend again who was now baring his teeth and his ears were flat against his skull.

In seconds, I was in the middle of a furry ring of snarls. My heart raced as I tried to think, but when I took another step back, I tripped and fell backwards, right onto the pile of clothes. I noticed quickly that they were not only dirty, but covered in blood stains. The growling intensified and I could hear my heart beat in my ears. I tried to remain still and quiet, hoping to deter them from making any sudden moves.

Suddenly, my phone rang. Without breaking eye contact from the intrusive creatures, I shakily picked it up and answered.

“H-Hello.”

“Hey Mindy, tonight was great! So glad you could make it! Just wanted to say be careful on your way home. I just got a text from my cousin. Apparently, there have been sightings of loose dogs all over the county this evening. Keep a sharp eye out! I know how you are, you’d be crying for weeks if you accidentally hurt one!”

The dogs continued to close in, their eyes glowing with vicious hunger.  

In the tiniest whisper I could muster, I spoke into the phone, “Claire, h-help me.”

“Huh?”

One foot away now…

“Claire. Please help m-” . And those were the last words that escaped my lips before the beasts closed into on their festive, generous, naive prey.