doghouse part 2

Finally, Darryl noticed the tunnel, and peered into it. “Wow Spot, did you do this?” he asked me. Yeah, I
thought, rolling my eyes. I really do have a spare tractor under my collar. Darryl looked again, and then
said, “We need to go get Jesse and Matt.” I sighed. So much for the Ghostbusters. Now I’d have to settle
for Dumb and Dumber.

Darryl went inside to get his big brothers. Matt was the oldest, and so he went first of course. “Wow,
there is a tunnel down here,” he said. “Why don’t you go check it out?” he said to Darryl, who looked a
little nervous. “It’s kind of dark in there,” he said. Matt handed him a flashlight. “Here, use this, and why
don’t you keep counting so we know where you are?” Darryl took the flashlight, and said, “All right.” He
went in and started counting. I looked back at his brothers who were snickering, and charged in after
Darryl. I wasn’t going to let him go alone.

We traveled for a long time, and Darryl counted all the way up to 50. After that he decided that his
brothers were too chicken to come in anyway, and quit. “I can’t believe this is in our backyard Spot,” he
said to me. The walls sparkled with a strange kind of glowing glitter, and every so often a stray breeze
would send clouds of dust to us. It seemed that Darryl was covered in it, and since I itched like mad, I
was sure I was too. “This is just going to keep on going isn’t it Spot?” Darryl asked me. I stepped forward
cautiously. It did seem to be taking a long time.

A slithering noise came from behind us. Darryl whipped around, and shined the flashlight. “Matt, Jesse is
that you?” he called. Nothing. Nothing. No sound, but Darryl’s breathing, and my panting. Then a low
rumble started, and an eerie fog seeped towards us. It curled around Darryl’s ankles, and began to tug on
his shoes. Darryl gave a strangled yell. “It’s..It’s grabbing me!” he finally made out. I barked, and jumped
back as the fog yanked on a whisker. “Run Spot, RUN!” screamed Darryl. He didn’t have to tell me twice.
We ran as fast as we could through the maze of tunnels, in this way, and through that, until finally it
seemed like Darryl’s footfalls just faded away. I threw on my brakes, and had a look around. Darryl was
gone! We’d accidentally taken different paths!

Now I am a brave dog, and nothing much rattles me, but I was very worried about Darryl. He’s just a
human after all! My steps slowed down since I couldn’t see as well without Darryl’s flashlight bobbing in
front of me. The air was chilly, and musty; kind of thick feeling. It seemed the further I went, the harder
it was to breath. Whew! I was tired! Suddenly exhausted, I sat down on my duff, and thought about life’s
choices. Did I really have to follow Darryl in here? Couldn’t I have just waved goodbye and wished him the
best of luck? “Coward!” I scolded myself. I pulled myself together and decided to press on.

“Sit down,” said an eerie voice. I sat. Darn obedience school, I thought. “Who’s out there,” I barked
back. This is getting ridiculous. “Show yourself, you goon!” I said, feeling brave. “Are you sure?” the voice
answered back. A face began to loom in the fog behind me. Eyes, green and glowing. And teeth. Big
ones. “You’ve proved yourself to be brave enough to enter my doghouse, but you’re foolish,” it said,
baring its teeth in a wide grin. Fingers from the fog reached out and swatted my behind. That was it! His
doghouse indeed! I jumped up. “Now look here!” I said jumping at the face. “This is my doghouse, and
you’re invading it!” I snapped my jaws at the fog, and the face, looking shocked, backed away. “I want
you out of here right now!” I growled. The face looked thoughtful, but then it showed a menacing grin.
“Your humans are all still here,” it hissed. “Might we make a compromise?”

I cocked an eyebrow, and looked at the face suspiciously. “What compromise?” I asked. The face
disappeared leaving only its eyes, and they leaned down to look into mine. “I’ll give you your humans
back, if you let me stay here.” I nearly fell over. “Stay here? In my doghouse? But it’s mine, mine, ALL
MINE!” I ranted stomping around. The eyes looked somewhat amused. “Anyway,” I continued. “You stink.”
This seemed to take him completely by surprise. He actually looked embarrassed. “Well, I can’t help that
you know, it just happens. You don’t smell like a rose either.” I had to give him that- I hadn’t been
bathed… well… ever.

“Look,” said the eyes. “I’m sure we can work this out. Maybe..” It trailed off shyly. “Maybe what?” I
asked. “Maybe we can make it better. As you can see, I have quite a way with construction. Perhaps I
can turn it into a real house down here. Add a kitchen, a library, maybe even a garden!” The entire face
returned, and smiled brightly. Who knew the beast’s true passion was interior decorating?

I sat down and peered at the face. “Well, that sounds great for me, but what’s in it for you?” I asked.
The face smiled. “Well, You could let me stay here of course, and I can make improvements as a way of
paying rent. I mean, because really, what else could I do? I have no where else to go, and its not like I
can get a job.” Suddenly a light bulb went on in my head. I had a great idea!

“We’ll have tours!” I said, jumping back up again. “Haunted tours, like at Halloween. We can make up a
story about the doghouse’s history, and you can slither around and scare the kiddies. It’ll be great!” I
stood back and waited for a reply. The face stayed very still, considering my proposal. Finally he spoke,
“Can I slam doors?”

“Yes!”

“Flush toilets?”

“Well…”

“Moan, and groan, and scream and cry?” he amended.

“Yes!”

“Mr. Spot you’ve got a deal!” He said extending his foggy fingers to me for a handshake. I looked at
those sticky green fingers in disgust. “Yeah, how about we just spit on it,” I suggested, tossing a stream
of doggie saliva at him. Imagine my not-so-surprise, when a waterfall of sludge landed on my head.
“Thanks,” I muttered.

***

The day was nice and Sunny when I finally made it outside. There was Darryl, playing on the grass with
a few toy cars. Before he could catch me all covered in slime, I rolled on the ground a few times until I
was satisfied that most of it had rubbed off. “Hi Spot,” said Darryl, finally noticing me. I made my way
over to him, and flopped down. What a day! The sun, the breeze, the peace and quiet- uh oh, what
happened to Matt and Jesse!

Suddenly a loud roar was coming from the doghouse. “91, 92, 93,” something sinister counted. Matt and
Jesse leaped out of the doghouse, their faces full of terror. “Where have you been?” asked Darryl to his
brothers. “Quiet,” they said. “Listen.” The boys looked wide eyed at the doghouse and a voice screamed,
“98, 99, 100.” The counting stopped.

Good job man, I thought. I knew in no time the rumor would spread around about the haunting, and the
people would come. Humans like to be scared.

The End.