Macabre Tales

Walking the Dog

It was a dark night in late October. The weather had already turned cool and crisp. Tonight there was a particular chill in the air that sent shivers down Joanne's back. Joanne was your typical 28-year-old woman. She had graduated with a Masters degree in psychology from a prestigious university. She had been one of the top students in her class and was generally known for being cool as ice. In fact, her professional, business-like demeanor had earned her the title of "The Ice Queen." She had abstained from dating anyone at the university and had opted to go for some of the older gentlemen in Yorkshire, Mass.

Tonight Joanne was out walking her dog as was usual for a Tuesday evening. She had had a long day at the office and hadn't gotten home until 8:00. The sun had long gone down and even though she didn't normally go out at night like this, Joann felt safe with Bruno, her German Shepherd, by her side. So out they went, following their routine path. They would leave Joanne's house and walk down to the old convenience store, then they would take a left and follow the road about two blocks to the park, then they would take one of the paths through the park and end up at the covered bridge. Once they crossed the bridge it was only about a mile back to Joanne's place.

As they were walking, Joanne could feel the crisp fall air and smell the leaves that had begun to fall. She loved that smell because it reminded her so much of her home and being a little girl playing in the leaves that her father had raked. Joanne treasured that memory and the handful of others that she had about her father. She only had a few memories of him because he had disappeared mysteriously when she was about 10. It was never said out loud, but there were whisperings of dealings with the mafia or another woman or one of the many things that people use to explain away those things that are too abnormal to have an explanation.

Joanne and Bruno were about halfway through the park when suddenly Bruno stopped. Joanne turned and looked and saw that Bruno had his ears lying down and his tail tucked between his legs and was whimpering urgently. "What's wrong boy?" Joanne asked. But Bruno never kept his eyes off of the forest in front of them. "Do you see something?" she inquired again. "It's probably just a squirrel," she uttered to herself. Whether this was meant to calm her or the dog, she couldn't say. "Come on Bruno, let's go," she said as she tugged on his leash. Bruno came along but hesitantly and he stayed close to her legs, all the while sniffing the air.

"It sure is chilly tonight." Joanne said to no one in particular. They continued on through the park and came to the covered bridge. A chill wind blew through the air, causing goosebumps to raise up all across Joanne's arms and legs. "Come on Bruno." Joanne said. "We're almost home." But as Joanne approached the bridge, Bruno wouldn't move. Joanne turned and tugged on his leash saying "Come on. There's nothing out there." But Bruno wouldn't move. He just kept pulling away and whimpering loudly. "Come on you coward." Joanne said as she continued to struggle with the stubborn dog. "You're supposed to be protecting me." But Joanne's efforts were in vain. Bruno was stronger than she was and manged to slip out of his collar as he turned and ran off back into the park where they had come from.

"Shit!" Joanne muttered to herself. "Damn dog. Now I have to go find him in the dark." Then, from behind her, Joanne heard a growl. "Bruno?" she asked as she turned around. But the sight that befell Joanne wasn't her beloved dog. It was a horrible , unearthly thing. A demonesque doppleganger of a dog. The creature was about 24 inches wide at the shoulders and about three feet in length from it's disfigured nose to it's gnarled tail.

Joanne heard a scream. It took her a moment to realize that the scream was coming from her. Upon realizing this Joanne screamed again. This scream was met with an unholy, unnatural growl from the creature. Slowly , and with purpose, the crature advanced towards her like it was stalking prey. Joanne stumnbled backwards and turned around trying to run.

Published on 01/22/2004

J. R. Guinness Posted at 10:54 AM