by tynahi » Wed Oct 28, 2020 1:48 pm
Username: Tynahi
Name: Phantom
Name Meaning(s): Phantom is the name the neighborhood kids in the story gave the dog. They think him a ghost left to haunt the house after it was abandoned after a storm, cursed to wait for the people to come home. He's the ghost of 'lost memories and abandoned dreams'
Gender: Male
No Goes: Belted
Prompt:
The wind howled as rain pelted down in sheets. His heart was pounding and with each racing beat he had only one thought. Run. Run faster. Run from the monster that had howled to life behind him. And don’t stop. Somewhere along the way he had lost his collar. But he hadn’t cared to search for it. There was no time. He wasn’t even sure where he was going at this point. All he knew was that he had to get away and if that wasn’t an option he had to hide.
His mind whirled. How had it come to this? He had been in his yard at his home. Waiting for his boy to come out to play, but he hadn’t come. It seemed like any other day up until that point. It was cooler out but not cold. It smelled of rain, but that wasn’t out of season. Yet while he waited he started to get a sense of dread. Something was wrong. He didn’t know what, but he could feel it. Something was coming and it wasn’t something he wanted to be around to experience. With a whine he went up to the door and pawed at it. Where were his people? They should be home by now. Pacing he waited by the door, but with each passing moment his unease grew. Thunder cracked overhead and what had once been a calm breeze had picked up drastically. A monster was coming. He could tell. He could feel it. He could hear it. Growling. Roaring as it got closer.
He had to go. Deep down inside he knew it, but how could he? How could he leave his home? His boy? What if they came looking for him? His whines grew louder as he paced further and further into the yard. He brushed against the fence that marked the border of his known world. But as the winds grew rougher he dug and forced his way through the barrier as best he could. Yet as much as he yearned to just run he paused. His loyalty held him back. He wanted his people, his home. He wanted to stay.
After many false starts he ran. And he ran as fast as his legs could take him. He forced himself not to look back as he abandoned his home and the family he loved. The monster was there. It had come. The wind whipped out yanking and pulling his coat. Rain pelted him like tiny needles of ice. He didn’t even know where to go other than away from the thing chasing him from his home. He could hear the trees wailing in the wind, crashes and breaks as they bowed to it. Branches scraped his sides, gripping his collar, but he couldn’t let the monster catch him. Yanking himself free he ran onwards. Around him he smelled fear. Others were fleeing too, trying to get away from it. All that was familiar was gone. All he could smell was rain, mud, wind and fear. His paws skidded in slick mud and wet stone as he scattered over fallen branches and rocks he came upon. He could feel the thing catching up to him, nipping his heels. He had to keep going, even clumsily as he slid and staggered over obstacles he couldn’t see. And then the path slipped away from under his paws causing him to tumble in an ungraceful heap. Pain shot up his left front leg. Whining he pressed up against the rocks he landed near, hoping they would suffice in hiding him from the monster that continued to rage. Curling up, wet and shivering he waited for it to be over. He had abandoned his family, the thought started to sink in and he growled at it. No he’d go back once it was over. It would be fine.
The next morning when the winds had calmed and the rains had ceased he made his way home. It was slow going trying to find his way back and when he finally reached his yard things had changed. He used to know every nook and cranny; where everything was. But things had been thrown askew and he bumped into one thing or another as he made his way to where the door to the house was. The door strangely was open, though seemed wider than before, and while it had the faint smell of home it also smelled different. Rain and mud were mixed in with the familiar scents, but all traces of his people were faint. Missing. He wandered the house until he came to his pushed over bed. They’d be back. He knew it. And then he and his boy would run through the house and play in the yard. They’d curl up on the couch to watch tv or keep watch of him as he slept. It would go back to how it was. So he waited for them to come home.
---
‘You should hold your breath crossing in front of this house.’ One boy said tugging the hand of another as they passed in front of an old abandoned house. ‘Why?’ the other asked, giving it a side glance. It was unkempt, battered from the storm and clearly not repaired. It had an eerie silence to it but didn’t seem too out of the ordinary.
‘Its haunted. They say after the storm the people never came back to it and that a phantom lives there now. One of lost memories and abandoned dreams. It takes the form of a dog with no eyes. It’s a bad omen if you see it.’ The two boys stopped, considering the house; studying it in search of the paranormal. ‘Why is it a bad omen?’
‘Because it's lost. Abandoned. And if you see it it's a sign that something bad is gonna happen to you. It's forever waiting for the people to come home that never will.’
(I left the ending kinda vague for this story but he does have a happy ending where he's found & taken care of, just not in this part of his tale c:)
Last edited by
tynahi on Tue Nov 03, 2020 11:53 am, edited 3 times in total.
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