The Lost Dog

With every step, the colorful autumn leaves crunch beneath my feet.  “Here, Toby!” I call out desperately.  There is no sign of my dog anywhere, and it is getting late.  After about thirty minutes of searching, it is nearly pitch black out.  I turn on the flashlight on my phone.  I only have 13% battery left, and my thin jacket is doing very little to protect me from the heavy breeze.   Toby has been out before.  He’ll find his way home, no doubt, I assure myself.  I turn around and start heading the opposite direction.  My phone has already lowered to 5% and I have wandered further than a mile into the woods.  

    I trip over something and my phone falls to the ground.  “Shit,” I mutter, holding my head after hitting it against the back of a tree on the way down.  I feel something cold behind me.  Cold enough to be felt through my jacket.  I shine the flashlight on the mysterious object that I tripped over to reveal the eternally opened, dead eyes of a small, German Shepard puppy by the name of Toby.  And that’s when the battery died.

    There was no blood, no wounds, not even a trace of how it happened.  I sat in the pitch black forest next to Toby.  I shook him, lifted his head, and even tried to pinch him awake out of pure desperation, but eventually I lost all hope and decided to take the truth.  

    Toby was still young, so carrying his corpse back to the house wouldn’t be too hard.  I stood up, starting to feel lightheaded from the bump on my head.   Tears run down my face as I wander through the forest, carrying my best friend in my arms.  

    I do not know which direction I am headed, but I can only hope I’m on my way home.  Rain began to pour down from the sky, soaking the trees that released water droplets onto the top of my head.  After walking through the pouring rain for what seemed to be around 10 minutes, through my blurred, teary eyes, I saw a light.  It did not seem right that my house was already visible, considering the fact that I had only been walking a third of the distance it took to get here.  

    However, I desperately sprinted to the light, seeking shelter from the freezing rain and darkness.  I live in the center of a large forest.  It takes an hour to simply get to town where the rest of my family lives.  I have no neighbors within 10 miles, or so I thought.  I step onto the porch of an old-looking cabin.  Every light appears to be on in the house.  Not a sound is heard from inside, only the pouring rain hitting the roof.  Feeling desperate, I loudly knock on the door.  No one answers. 

    Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning strikes the ground just behind me, sending a deep shiver down my spine.  Holding Toby in one arm, I barge into the cabin.  Have you gone mad, Allison? I ask myself.  I can only imagine a strange, soaked girl inviting herself into my home, carrying a dead dog.  I am in a small kitchen with creaky wood floors and a round table against the wall.  I slowly step further into the cabin, hanging my coat on a chair.  

    “Is anyone home?” I call out.  “My name is Allison, and I got lost in the dark searching for my dog.”  I don’t know what else to say.  Seeing Toby in the light triggers my emotion, sending more tears down my cheeks.  My voice is shaky.  “I hope you don’t mind me, I just needed some shelter from the pouring rain.” I begin to grow skeptical.  “Hello?” I call out questioningly.  

    The kitchen has two additional doorways.  One leads to a small bedroom, and the other leads to a living room with a sofa and two chairs surrounding an old fashioned tv.  No one is home.  Every single light in this cabin is on.  Every lamp, every overhead light, even the alarm clock brightly flashes: 1:39.  What would someone be doing out of their house at almost 2:00 in the morning?  I am so tired I can barely think straight.  

    I wake up in pitch black darkness.  I am on something soft, but not my bed.  I feel around, and I recognize the shape.  I am on a three-seated sofa.  Beside the sofa I can feel a lamp.  I pull the cord, and suddenly the whole room is dimly lit.  

    I let my eyes adjust to the brightness, before glancing around.  “Ah, honey you’re awake!” An old woman’s voice calls out.  I direct my attention to the corner of the room where an elderly woman who looks to be in her mid seventies is knitting in a rocking chair.  “I hope it is warm enough in here for you, you certainly must have had a long night,” the woman says.  She holds up two knitted socks and slowly limps toward me.  I jerk myself off the couch and back into the kitchen.  She continues to follow me.  “I made these especially for you.  You must be freezing!”  I say nothing, but continue to shake in the corner of the kitchen.  “Who...who...are you?” I stutter.  She laughs slightly.  I look down at my dirty, bare feet and glance over to see my black tennis shoes by the door.  “Allison, have you gone insane? It’s Grandma!”  I swallow hard.  “You...you’re not my grandmother.” I see hidden anger in her eyes, as she says sternly with only a hint of softness, “Allison, you are being absolutely ridiculous.  Now put on the socks I’ve knitted you!” Out of fear and confusion, I take the socks from her clammy, wrinkly hands and slip them over my feet.  The socks are a hideous combination of three different shades of purple from dark to light.  “See, Pretty!” I feel like crying.  Who is this woman?  

    “Allison, honey what is the matter with you today?  You seem rather distracted.”  I stare into her eyes.  This is not my grandmother’s house.  This is not my grandmother, period.  Who does she think she is fooling? Suddenly I am struck by a deep thought.  “Where is Toby?” I question.  BEEP.  The timer on the oven goes off.  The old lady’s face lights up.  “Ah, perfect timing!” 

    As she opens the oven, I get a weird feeling.  An unpleasant smell fills the air.  She pulls out the tray and I nearly throw up on the spot.  

    I burst through the front door and sprint through the woods.  The sun is just now coming up, and I can barely see a thing.  The ground is muddy from the rain, and with every step, my feet sink further into the ground.  I don’t stop running.  The sun continues to rise.  I cannot think straight, and I am starting to feel light headed.  I blink once.  I am running full speed, dodging the reoccurring trees.  I blink a second time, and I am falling down a steep hill, being hit by briars every other second.  After that, everything goes dark.  

    I awaken to the warmth and comfort of my own bed.  I stretch out, feeling relieved it was only a dream.  Toby meets me at the top of the stairs.  He jumps into my arms and I give him just about a million kisses.  I bend over to put him down, and that’s when I nearly jump out of my own skin.  Shaking, I back up until I hit the wall.  I stare down at my feet in fear.  I am wearing the socks.