Awhile ago I wrote a story for a contest that challenged you to a full story in 5 pages. I wrote this one and then never sent it in. Silly me, but I still have issues with people reading my work. Eventually I'll get over it, but for now it's still nerve wracking.
Fun with a Big Black Dog.
Matt exited the elevator into the damp cool of the parking deck. Irritated that he had been forced to work late again, he stalked toward his lonely car. Heaving a sigh, he tried to will himself into a better mood. His wife, Julia, told him that she had news for him tonight. After eleven months of trying he hoped that she would tell him that she was pregnant.
Lost in his thoughts and keeping his eyes on the ground to see the parking space numbers, he was startled when a pair of large black dog feet came into view. An animal lover by nature, he lifted his head with a smile and quickly froze. Whatever was in front of him was definately not an innocent dog. Black with grey tips on the fur of the back and head, it was beautiful. The yellow eyes, though. Those eyes were not the eyes of any dog they he had ever seen, they reguarded him with too much intent.
Still frozen, Matt thought about what he should do next. Running seemed like a bad idea, the creature looked like it would take him down in three steps easy. Backing away slowly seemed like a decent idea, but he didn’t want to draw it’s attention more than he already had. He was going to go with staying still and hoping it got bored.
The creature and the man reguarded eachother for a long time. Matt found that the longer he looked at it, the more he was struck by the beauty of it. The fur looked soft and well groomed, the eyes were definately intelligent but lacked the coldness he had first imagined. He was surprised to find that his once frozen stance of holding his key out to open the car had relaxed. Instead, he was standing with his hand in his pocket and his briefcase tucked under his arm. Maybe the creature was actually one of those wolf hybrids that he had read about. It certainly was built like a wolf, just a big one. There was something about the casual unthreatened way that it sat that made Matt certain that it was comfortable around humans. So, probably not wild then.
Abruptly the wolf...dog...whatever, yawned and stood to come padding over to him. Giving his hand a sniff, it brushed against his leg and then turned and sat next to him. Leaning on his leg, it stared at the car and then up at him. If Matt didn’t know better he would say that it wanted a ride.
Slowly, trying to think nonthreatening thoughts, he reached down and gently pet the large head. He snatched his hand back as the head snapped up to glare at him. For a second, the eyes narrowed, looking oddly insulted. Then the mouth opened in a huge toothy grin and the tongue rolled out to the side in a classic happy dog look. Confused, Matt slowly reached down again and this time was rewarded with a small lick. Scratching behind the ears got him a deep contented groan and a rubbing of the neck confirmed his suspicion that there was no collar.
The big lug was lost, maybe a runaway. It needed a place to stay, the parking garage was no place for it. It was too late to call Animal Control, not that he would. They would take one look at this guy and put him down for being a wolf. There was no one else in the garage. He yelled out just in case and the dog growled, the rumble vibrating and carrying almost more than his yell.
The only good solution seemed to be taking it home and putting up flyers and checking the pound to see if anyone had called for it. He wasn’t sure if he was comfortable about the idea of being in a car with it though, it seemed a little grumpy. What if it didn’t want to get in the car or ate the seats? Well, it could eat the seats for all he cared, the car was a beater anyway. Working non-profit did not bring in the big bucks.
Seeing no other way to find out, he unlocked the car and opened the door. Holding it open and moving to the side, he turned to invite the dog in. Cool, dark fur brushed by him as it settled into the passenger seat and stared at him expectantly.
“Well then, I guess someone likes going for rides”, he muttered. Turning to the dog he smiled and kept his hands on the steering wheel. “I can’t reach to your door to roll the window down and the air conditioning has never worked in this. Sorry. Please don’t get cranky if you get hot. Thanks.”
Matt started the car, backed out of his spot and began driving the descending ramps to exit. By the time he reached the street the dog’s head and right paw were laying heavily in his lap. He dropped his hand with a small smile and ran his fingers through thick fur as he drove.
When Matt got home he was relieved to see that Julia’s car was in the driveway. She didn’t like most animals, but large dogs always settled down around her. His brother Jake’s cranky German Shepherd always laid quietly by her feet the entire time they visited. It was amazing what she could do and he hoped that her presence would make the night easier for everyone.
“Well boy, we’re home.”
The dog sat up and growled at him again.
“What?”
Standing up to shake out it’s fur, the dog took up the entire interior of his small car. His head forced back against the head rest at the 200 pounds of fur pushing on him, Matt hoped that this was not going to turn into a teeth and band aid moment.
Ducking his head a little as the dog pushed it’s shoulder harder into his head, Matt saw that certain parts were missing if this was a male. This ginormous dog that was attempting to smother him was a girl.
“Good girl! Sit, Girl! Sit down, Girl!”
Immediately the dog sat.
“Are you serious? You were insulted because I called you a boy? You have got to be the smartest dog that I have ever met. Or the weirdest.”
The dog opened it’s mouth and began panting happily.
With a laugh, Matt opened the door and got out. The dog walked right by him and began walking straight up to the door. He called after it, “Boy dogs can be pretty too, you know! There’s not need to be so defensive!”
As he walked up to the door Matt hoped that this little interupption in the evening didn’t upset Julia. He knew that she had seemed tense about tonight and he didn't want to make it worse. If they were pregnant she had to know that he would be happy. Their relationship was great, there shouldn’t be any upsetting announcements reguarding that. Whatever it was, they would get through it together. They always did.
He opened the door and walked in with the dog’s body pushing his leg. “Hi, Baby! Don’t be alarmed, I brought home a big black dog!” He turned to the dog and smiled. “Don’t worry, she’ll love you. I just want to avoid screaming since there isn’t usually a small mountain of black fur in the foyer.”
Tilting it’s head the dog reguarded him solemnly.
Matt realized that he hadn’t heard any response from his wife and called out again. Still nothing. He didn’t want to leave the dog in the foyer in case she hadn’t heard him and panicked if she found it.
Well, the dog had been incredibly smart so far. “Come one, let’s go find her. Heel.”
Another growl. Great, a large touchy dog that he didn’t know in his house with his possibly pregnant wife. Matt reflected on the fact that he would more than likely be a good candidate for this year’s Darwin Award.
Giving up, he started to walk toward the kitchen in the back. The dog blocked his way and stared up at him with those yellow eyes. Serious, so serious.
Matt kept trying to walk around and the dog kept cutting him off until a tangle of fur and legs landed on the floor. Laying flat and feeling bruised, he didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. All day he had thought of Julia and what tonight would be like. Then he worked late and met this damn dog and now he didn’t even know if she was home. Closing his eyes, he softly beat his head on the floor under him.
A wet nose snuffled his ear. He pushed it away. It snuffled his chin. He pushed it away. A tongue began licking his entire face and he couldn’t help but grin. This huge suffocating blanket of a dog was licking him like an eager puppy. He felt the tension drain out of him and he gently pushed on the dog’s chest so that he could sit up.
Matt sat on the floor and leaned his head back. In his best melodramatic wail he yelled, “Juuuliaaaaa!” It was a long standing joke from their dating days and could be heard through the whole house.
The dog let out a surprisingly high pitchid yip. Matt looked over at it and it stood up with a large doggy grin. It walked until it was directly in front of him and sobered. Yellow eyes held his and he heard a soft whine.
Something changed. Matt looked up to see if a light had come on because the dog looked lighter. But the lights were the same, it was the dog that was different. The fur was receding, melting back into the skin.
Gasping, he scrambled back until his back hit the door and watched as the snout shortened. Paws distorted and fingers appeared. The tail shrank until it was gone, the hind end forming into human legs. When the fur was completely gone, hair grew down from the top of the shifting head.
The face was the last thing to finish. A nose pushing through flatness, nostril reshaping. Yellow eyes bleeding into a chocolate brown with gold flecks.
Eyes that he had fallen in love with five years ago.
Slowly, eyes never leaving his, Julie stood before him. Naked and proud, the tilt of her chin told him what she was thinking. She was daring him to be disgusted or angry. To reject her for what she was. As if rejecting her was even a possibility, she was too much a part of him for that.
He had no problem with what she was. He had fallen in love with a strong, beutiful woman. Who, as it happens, is also a strong, beautiful wolf. It was an unusual package deal, but he would always take her any way that she came. He loved her, he had always loved her and he always would.
He stood and met her eyes. “Why in the world did you hide that for five years?”
Brown eyes flicked to the side before meeting his again. “I didn’t want to lose you.”
Matt smiled. She always hated talking about feelings. Winning her heart had taken some serious creativity. Then one day he had figured out that actions are everything to her.
He stomped over to her with mock sternness and swept her into his arms. She was almost as tall as he was, but he still picked her up easily and walked her to the bedroom. As he laid her on the bed, he whispered, “Don’t ever lie to me again.”
“Never.”
A long time later they laid in the bed, drowsy and satisfied. Julia rested her head on his chest and traced the edges of a celtic tattoo that circled his arm. She lifted her head with a lazy smile. "That wasn’t all of the news I wanted to tell you.”
He looked down at her. “No?”
She shook her head and her smile grew.
“No. The news is that....I’m pregnant.”
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