This story won 7th place in the first round of NYC Midnight’s “250-word Microfiction Challenge 2020” writing contest. Contest participants were given a prompt with a required genre, action, and word at midnight and then required to turn in a 250-word maximum short story within 24 hours.
My prompt was:
GENRE: Horror
ACTION: Pet sitting
WORD: Serve
Lady Sunshine
I was pet sitting.
My friend Mary had to go out of town, and begged me to take care of her new dog while she was gone. I should have told her “no,” but I didn’t know how to explain the danger. So I agreed and crossed my fingers that everything would be alright.
For two days, it was perfect; I cuddled, played, and served gourmet home-cooked meals in a little doggie bowl that had Mary texting me little jealous emojis all weekend.
Then, it happened.
One moment, I’m petting Lady Sunshine’s fluffy little face and the next, I’m watching her bones collapse, her skin fall off, and her happy tongue sagging and stretching as it rots out of her mouth. A once-lively puppy, who celebrated every sight and smell with a palpable, vibrating, buzzing sense of joy, gone in an instant—crushed from the inside-out as the shadow that has haunted me since I was young envelops her furry little body, and sucks the life force out of her with a gusto.
As I stare down in shock at the decaying mess of bloated tissue and twisted limbs in my hands, I feel an icy tendril caress my face.
“Alone again,” a voice croons in my ear, and I shudder. I should have known that a normal life was not possible, that making friends was a bad idea. This is all my fault.
My phone buzzes. A text.
“Hey, girl! Send me puppy pics?”