The Corgi and the secret Latch

    The day that it happened was one that couldn’t be forgotten but also mustn't share for the public could not handle a story so extreme. The sky was painted dull colors like gray and black (not the least bit pretty). The sun was nearly non-existent and if it was not for the rolling clouds and the brain shaking thunder you wouldn’t have known it was only about 12:30 pm. And what could only be described as a white fog with green tints was rolling across the ground like a tumbleweed. The fog crept around the corners of the London streets ever so slowly, standing at about knees length. The citizens of London had seen an impressive amount of rain in their lives, but the fog was new and frightening to the people, it seemed as the deathly green fog was waiting to creep into their homes and suffocate them (Later it was determined that the green tint was because it ran through the sewage system ). The lightning that came every two minutes or so illuminated the sky in a bright blue color.  BAM! The thunder shook the ground as if an earthquake had taken place. Duke, a tan-colored corgi with a very curious nature, ran head-first in between the two couch cushions and shuttered out of fear, unlike his normal self. 

    A boy and girl were seated at a table using their phones which wasn’t out of the ordinary, even if there wasn’t a raging storm outside right outside their window (which if the dog could talk would say that a flimsy piece of glass is not at all efficient at keeping a furious storm out.) 

    “Look at Duke” The boy exclaimed

“That's too cute! Take a picture, it will blow up online.” The boy snapped the photo and posted it online.

“Look at the caption I put on it, ‘Shiver me timbers!’” 

The girl let out a small giggle and said “That’s too funny” That was the only moment of social interaction that had taken place since the boy and girl’s parents left for dinner. Duke pulled his head out of the couch and thought “That's not even funny”.  Duke hopped down from the couch and nudged his face into the boy's leg. “You're always on your phone, you never play with me”  Duke vented in his head. “Go lay down” The boy insisted. The dog cocked his head to the side “Come on Landon, how about you Kera I suppose you won’t play either .”  The dog turned away disappointed but not surprised. The gray sky put the corgi in an especially bad mood and this didn’t help. The dog rejoiced at the thoughts of the old days when he was a young pup, the day when he saw Kera and Landon’s faces light up with excitement, their hands pressing up against the glass of his cage. Landon’s words were guided by excitement and joy, Duke remembered him saying “That one mommy, that one!”

Duke found that not only his mind was wandering but he was too. This place was dark and damp as well as windowless. He smelt the air around him as dogs do and found that the air smelt like mildew. The Basement! He concluded. This was where his humans went to clean their synthetic fur (Clothes, as we know them).  He wandered about for a bit, until he found a small latch, partially behind the dryer. He very carefully opened the latch with his snout and looked down. He began to fall and fast. How did you manage this one duke?  He thought The force of what seemed like 1,000 Jupiters began to pull him down. It was dark, so he couldn’t see the bottom, or if there was a bottom. But he feared it was near, his gut (Which regularly indulged in kibble) told him it was near. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the ground that was undoubtedly near. Then he felt light, like a feather, slowly drifting down. His body that not 10 seconds ago felt like lead sinking to the bottom of the ocean felt like a boat, peacefully staying afloat. He opened his eyes and saw little gold and silver dots all around his. He looked down and saw a small room dimly lit by a candle. His paws touched the ground and he saw winged little blue people, no more than the size of an eraser. Who are they?, Where am I?   He pondered  A little blue woman wearing a beautiful rose gold crown that was seated on a purple velvet throne responded with  “We are the house fairies, I am their queen. You are in our kingdom because we called upon you, for you have a problem that is our duty to fix  and you can talk here.”

    “What do you do?” The dog hesitantly asked

“We are responsible for many things. For example the dream fairy, the think fairy, the hygiene fairy, the cleaner fai-”

“The cleaner fairy doesn't get much action, does it?” Duke rudely interrupted

    The queen fairy ignored Duke's comment and continued on “The wish fairy, The book fairy, The food fairy, and the tooth fairy as well as more.”

Duke looked from side to side then asked quietly “Wha...wha...What does the tooth fairy, you know, do with the teeth?” 

“She sends them to the fairy of memory”

“What does the fairy of memory do?  Eat them or something, I mean I eat many things but teeth, you know, she should be fired for that!

    “How amusing!” The fairy replied sarcastically “No she actually stores them in memory so they won't be forgotten, subconsciously of course.”

“Who is the fairy of wishes, she seems awesome” Duke replied changing the subject

“Why that would be me. That is why you're here. I will grant you one wish to change your problem of being ignored. The catch is your wish will expire in two hours and if you don’t fix your problem in that time you will be forgotten by the world.”

Duke thought long and hard, stakes were high and he couldn’t risk being forgotten so he had to be able to get the point across to the kids straight forward. Finally, he said “I wish to speak”

“Very well then, I wish you the best of luck” and the fairy granted the wish.

Duke’s eyes slowly opened and he looked around he was lying on the couch“was it a dream?” Duke thought, but the words came pouring out of his mouth like a waterfall. Landon and Kera both turned their heads and looked in amazement. “Did you just talk?” Landon said in deep shock

“I suppose I did, How curious” Duke replied then he remembered the stakes. “There is something you must know” Duke carried on “I will only have this power for two hours.”

“I must get a video” Kera shouted

“About that. The only reason I have this power is to tell you, I don’t like you on your devices all the time. I’m slowly growing older and I won't be around forever, so please play with me and give me attention, because dogs aren't immortal or even close to a humans lifetime  and my biggest fear isn’t the lightning outside or spiders or the howl of the wind, it’s leaving this world without ever bonding with you, my owners, that I adore.”

Landon’s eyes watered and he spoke softly “ I’m so sorry. I will never let this happen again. Do you want to play?”

And as if on cue the clouds in the sky rolled away and after the two hours had past Duke hadn’t been forgotten.