Under the Dryer_with Bonus Flash_Orange and Golden Read online

  Under the Dryer

  A Short Story

  Fran Friel

  With Bonus Flash Story - Orange and Golden!

  SPECIAL EDITION

  This Special Edition has been created Exclusively for Fran Friel’s VIP Readers!

  For My Glorious VIP Horde!

  * * *

  It is my privilege to share this Special Edition of “Under the Dryer” with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed creating it for you.

  * * *

  Thank you again for joining my VIP Readers Horde. I am thrilled to have you on the team.

  * * *

  Happy Reading!

  * * *

  With Deepest Gratitude,

  Fran Friel

  Contents

  1. Under the Dryer

  BONUS FLASH STORY!

  2. Orange and Golden

  Afterword

  Also by Fran Friel

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  1

  Under the Dryer

  I tried to warn them, but the humans wouldn’t listen and the cats just taunted me.

  * * *

  The faint paw prints in the dust were the first sign. I started sniffing out the cause and became alarmed at my findings. I had been warned of such things by my sire’s brother, the great Mastiff, Old Sam, but I never thought I would see them for myself. I stayed with his family whenever my humans went away. At night in the dark, when the masters were asleep, Sam would whisper the Old Secrets.

  “Nowadays it’s just considered Dog Lore, boy,” he said in his deep growly voice. “But believe you me, these things can still happen. And it’s the forgettin’ that gives ‘em power. Promise me, boy, no matter what they tell ya’—remember the truth. It’s your sacred duty.”

  I made my solemn promise to always remember, of course. And later I tried to tell my friends at the park about my talks with Old Sam. They laughed at me and told me he was just an Olden and his stories were stupid. The Doberman twins teased me about it so much one day that I lost my temper. One of them ended up at the Vet. Served him right, but I got banned from the park.

  Old Sam was long gone when the trouble started, but I couldn’t let him down. No matter what, I never forgot the stories he told me and the Sacred Duty of the Mastiffs. It was my duty now. As the danger to my Masters grew, I knew what I had to do.

  At first, the furry Long Ears were confined to the space beneath the bed in Ashley’s room—no chance of discovery by the humans there amidst the teenager’s detritus. I paced outside her door, but the silly girl wouldn’t let me in. She opened the door and scolded me, instead.

  “Get away from my door, you stupid dog,” she said, followed by her favorite whine. “Mom! Goliath’s going to mess up my room.” As if I could make it any worse.

  Fluffins, one of the family’s fancy white cats, arrived and curled around Ashley’s ankles. The girl sneered at me and picked her up for a cuddle. The cat grinned its smug grin as Ashley carried her off into the room, slamming the door in my face. The cat would live to regret her preferred status.

  The unseen fiends seemed emboldened by my banishment, and their infestation spread down the hall to Teddy’s room. Their numbers were multiplying which their kind was destined to do.

  As my concern escalated, my Mistress caught me digging and scratching under the boy’s bed. Apparently, I damaged the finish on the hardwood floor, so she gave me a stern warning and sent me to the laundry room for punishment. At least the beasts had scattered, but I worried for my boy, Teddy. He was my best friend.

  It was in the laundry room that I discovered the nest—it was under the dryer. I heard their dusty voices and their scratching sounds before they detected my presence. At that moment, I thought if need be, I would stand guard there for the rest of my days. I would not allow the Long Ears’ evil to spread and harm my family. I had to stop them, the so-called Dust Bunnies. Old Sam said they looked nothing like bunnies, but humans were fond of the saying, since they had no idea of the danger that could befall them from within the dust.

  After my discovery of the nest, I decided to hold vigil in the laundry room. Puffins, Fluffin’s sister cat, stopped by on one of her scheduled rounds to mock my efforts.

  “You lummox,” she said as she passed by the door with her fluffy groomed tail held high.

  She circled back and lingered, rubbing against the doorjamb.

  “Ooo, Goliath’s the big hero—guarding the dirty underwear. Oh, I do feel ever so much safer now.”

  She walked away with a dismissive glance over her shoulder.

  “Loser,” she said.

  * * *

  Eventually the furry devils beneath the dryer became restless—evidence that I was indeed thwarting their plans. If I nodded off for even a moment, they darted out to pluck my whiskers or poke me with sharp objects. I always licked my wounds until the bleeding stopped so the masters wouldn’t see it and worry. I thought if I could only hold out long enough, perhaps the beasts would tire of waiting and leave through the dryer vent, then my humans would be safe again. But my Masters were concerned that I wasn’t eating so they brought dishes of kibble and water to my stronghold. I nibbled to assuage their worry.

  I tried hard to resist the Mistress, but eventually she coaxed me from the laundry room to relieve myself outside. The determined little beasts started to plan their operations around my forced relief schedule. They ducked out while I was gone to spill my water dish and prove to me they were on the move and winning the war.

  Finally, I refused to leave my fortress. Day after day and night after night, I stood guard. I had to protect my family. The Masters didn’t understand the danger they were facing.

  Teddy came by to visit me. He brought me treats and my yellow ball.

  “Come on, Boy. Let’s go play!”

  He jumped around and patted his knees and called me to the door. I could hardly resist. Playing with Teddy was my favorite thing in all the world, but I had to stay strong. Eventually he gave up and stopped jumping around. It was so hard not to obey him, not to run outside for a game of fetch, but I had to keep him safe. I could feel his sadness when I didn’t follow him—I always followed—but this time I couldn’t. I wagged my tail, but I stood my ground. Somehow, he seemed to understand. He sat down beside me and rested his head against my shoulder. He stroked my fur and called me a “good boy” but Teddy was the good boy, the best boy ever.

  * * *

  My vigil continued, but eventually I was unable to hold my bladder any longer. I soiled the floor. My Master’s patience was already growing thin with my refusal to leave the laundry room, but the soiling completely destroyed my credibility.

  My Master grumbled threats of the Dog Pound, as he dragged me from the laundry room. I strained and pulled at my collar as he tore me away from the only safety I could afford the family. I whimpered as the voices giggled and chittered and chided me from under the dryer. My master forced me to the front door and shoved me outside into the yard.

  “Maybe a night alone in the cold will sort you out, Goliath.”

  I was frantic. I barked and clawed at the door. As the lights went out for the night, I howled in wretched fear for my family. If only I could make them listen, get them to let me back inside the house.

  But no one came to the door, instead the Master shouted from the upstairs window.

  “That’s it! You’re going to the Pound tomorrow. Now, SHUT UP!”

  I lowered my head, and dropped my ears. I silenced my sorrowful howls. Wandering around to the deck at the back of the house, I peered through the sliding glass doors, hoping
I could at least keep watch from there.

  For hours, nothing happened. A tentative relief came over me. Perhaps all the threats from the dusty nest were hollow. Maybe my family was safe after all. The moon washed over me in the chilly night. I was weary, but I stretched out on my stomach and rested my muzzle on my paws so I could keep watch through the big glass doors. Soon all the stress and burden of the last few weeks washed over me. My eyelids felt like stones, and I fell into a deep sleep.

  As I slept, I dreamed good dog dreams of running with Teddy in the green grass of the yard and fetching my yellow ball. My Master looked on with pride, and scratched behind my ears when I came to show him my ball.

  “Good boy, Goliath. You are the best dog a family could ever have.”

  He threw the ball for me and I raced to fetch it, running at full speed.

  My heart soared with joy and love for my humans. I would give my life for them.

  Tap, Tap, Tap.

  The sound roused me from my dream, and I felt the cold night air in my bones and the frosted dew on my muzzle.

  Tap, Tap, Tap.

  I opened my eyes to the sight of hundreds of the dusty Long Ears on the other side of the sliding glass doors. They were each holding a weapon. The one tapping on the glass was grinning a long-toothed grin and wielding a meat cleaver from the kitchen. He was bigger than the others, and waved the cleaver high above his scraggly cockeyed ears. He squinted his red eyes then nodded at me, motioning a razor-sharp claw across his throat. He cackled then danced a lunatic jig behind the glass, taunting me.

  Several of the others waved their dirty paws at me, bouncing up and down on their mutant hind legs. At the direction of the big dark rodent, their obvious leader, a procession of the Long Ears passed in front of the door. At least twenty of the filthy beasts marched by, saluting as they carried a half-bald cat, her legs tied to a broomstick like a pig on a spit. It was Fluffins. The cat’s once pink tongue lolled bloody from her mouth. As the beasts paraded by, whiskers twitching, I could hear their wicked laughter through the door.

  I leapt to my feet and barked with all my might, and something hit the door with a splatter. It stuck to the window in a red sticky mass. As it began its smeary slide down the glass, I could see it was a human ear.

  I howled in horror. I was too late.

  In a panic, I barked and growled and pounded my heavy paws against the glass doors, but the beasts turned their backs and shook their dusty tails at me. Through the doorway across the room, I could see a mob of them dragging a body down the stairs like grimy-furred Lilliputians. I pounced at the doors, throwing the entire weight of my Mastiff body at the glass—the frame cracked and splintered. The leader went running toward the stairs cackling and waving the cleaver. I barked and howled and continued to hurl myself against the glass until the wood frame finally gave way. The doors caved in and shattered on the hardwood floor, smashing the Long Ears who hadn’t managed to scatter.

  Oblivious to my bloodied paws, I raced across the broken glass and into the living room, heading straight for the dusty beasts who were dragging my unconscious Master down the stairs. The leader leaped and skittered over his body, running ahead up the stairs. The others turned and attacked me, hacking at my paws with forks and scissors, jumping on my back and stabbing me with ice picks and steak knives. Something in me snapped and I ripped and I tore at them until their bodies were strewn like rag dolls motionless on the stairs and around the room. The bitter taste of them in my mouth was sickening.

  Badly bleeding, I padded quickly to my Master’s side in hopes he was still alive. The gaping hole on the side of his head where his ear had been, oozed with thick dark blood. I drew my tongue gently across his cheek. I could feel his warmth—he was still alive. I licked him again, and his eyes fluttered open.

  With relief, he looked into my face and whispered, "Goliath."

  Then his eyes widened and shone with terror.

  "Upstairs, boy. Get them!" he rasped.

  His eyes closed again. I nudged him and licked his face, but he didn’t move. I feared leaving him, but I had to go, to obey.

  I bounded up the steps to save the others. The Master's bedroom looked like a massacre—my Mistress's body hung limp over the side of the bed, bloodied and shredded. I nuzzled her, but she was already growing cold.

  I ran ahead to Teddy’s closed door. I was relieved when all there seemed quiet. Suddenly, shrieks sounded from Ashley's room. A wet trail of small red paw prints led to her open door. I burst into the room and saw hundreds of the beasts scuttling over the floor and around a bloodied feline mass in the middle of the room. A few of them had wrapped strips of matted white fur around their bodies, strutting around the room clawing at the furniture and licking their paws. They giggled as they pantomimed.

  Some of the Long Ears broke away from the pack and were beginning their climb up the bedspread toward Ashley. The terrified girl huddled against the headboard, hugging her knees to her chest.

  "Goliath, they're eating the cat!” she whimpered through snot and tears. “Help me! Please...."

  I leapt into action mauling and trampling the Long Ears, but there were so many of them. They swarmed over my body, ripping and tearing at my ears, slicing into my flesh with their household weapons and their razor-claws.

  To my horror, just as I felt my strength ebbing with the loss of blood, I spotted the big leader directing the onslaught from Ashley’s dresser. He waved his cleaver and squealed his indecipherable directions to the horde as if directing traffic like a children’s crossing guard. I dragged myself, still blanketed by the stinking Long Ears, toward the leader. He saw me coming and grinned. As I drew closer, he threw his cleaver at me, just missing my head. Before I could react, he leaped into the air with a maddening flourish and landed on Ashley’s bed.

  Still huddling against the headboard, the girl shrieked. The beast smiled as he made slow menacing steps across the frilly bedspread toward her. His minions had completed their climb up the covers and fell in behind their leader. I knew no matter how much pain I was suffering and no matter how weak I felt, I had to stop them.

  It was then that I noticed little Teddy standing wide-eyed and frozen in the doorway. I barked a warning to him then pounced on the bed, grabbing the leader by the throat. I shook him hard, trying to break his neck, then tossed him against the wall. He slid to the floor with a thud.

  The rest of the Long Ears on the bed doubled down on their attack, leaping on me and forgetting about Ashley. My body was going numb, but I managed to jump down beside the bed obscuring the fiends’ view of the door and distracting them from noticing Teddy.

  I flailed my head and flung their bodies into the air. As I drew the attention of the mass of beasts away from the door, Ashley made a run for it. She grabbed Teddy by the hand and just for a moment she glanced back at me, her face streaked with tears.

  She mouthed the words, “Thank you, Goliath.”

  She turned away and the two of them disappeared, leaving me alone with the swarming horde. It was a relief when I heard the children running down the stairs.

  I struggled to survive, but the Long Ears kept coming. The blood loss and the pain of my torn flesh was draining me of strength, but I knew the longer I distracted the dark rodents, the more hopeful I was that my family would escape with their lives.

  Just as I thought they were safe, I heard an ungodly shriek. It was the Long Ears leader making his way to the bedroom door. He had survived and was after the children.

  Howling my final battle cry, as my ancestors would have done, I shook my body from head to tail and tossed the beasts from my back. With a burst of strength I didn’t know I had, I raced toward the leader and reared up on my hind legs. Coming down hard, I hammered him with my heavy paws again and again, trampling his wicked body. I gnashed at him with my still powerful jaws—his black blood spilled from my muzzle as I continued my assault.

  In his last attempt to survive my powerful attack, the fiend grabbed onto my muzzl
e and lashed out with his razor claws to blind me. One of my eyes went dark. The pain was a hot knife in my face, but I didn’t stop. I wrenched my head sideways and shook him off. Before he could escape, I resumed pounding him with my heavy paws. He hissed and attacked with teeth and claws, but the evil glint in his dark eyes began to dim. He stopped fighting and his battered body finally lay still, lifeless on the floor.

  The rest of the Long Ears redoubled their assault. Endless painful moments passed during the battle. How many beasts remained, I wasn’t sure, but I sensed the house was finally vacant of my humans. Bone weary and staggering with dizziness, I stumbled with the weight of the next wave of their attack. Taking advantage of my weakness, the rabid beasts dragged me down to my belly. Snarling and drooling, they finished their leader’s work of blinding me with their razor-claws. As if from far away, I heard unfamiliar voices, shouts, the popping of gunfire.

  My body failed me, and I could no longer struggle. As the pain passed away from my awareness, my thoughts wandered to the Ancient Dog Lore and the Great Mastiff, Old Sam; I knew he would be proud. Entrusted with the Sacred Duty, I had saved my family from the Old Evil—from the Long Ears, the Dust Bunnies.

  The smell of green grass entered my senses. I felt it under my paws. I heard the boy’s voice.

  “Come on, Goliath. Fetch, boy. Fetch.”

  I ran fast and filled with joy in my dream as I fetched the ball for Teddy again and again. And when we were finally worn out from our playing, we lay in the soft, cool grass together. As the boy drifted off to sleep, I heard a familiar growly voice.