Short Stories

A Dog's Family Reunion

Summary: Dogday wakes up one night when all of a sudden, his dad returns, who, alongside Dogday's mother, abandoned him years ago. Dogday's resentment catches the attention of his boyfriend, Angel Dust, and Dogday tells the story of how his family abandoned him. But is there another side? Can Dogday's parents truly be forgiven?

....

It was a calm and peaceful night. Especially for Dogday, who was sleeping soundly in his bed. What Dogday didn't know, was that a strange dog was creeping up from beside him.

It was so dark, that no one could see the dog. The strange dog reached his hand out towards Dogday. Dogday turned on his side and slowly opened his eyes.

"What is that?" Once he saw the dog's hand reaching out for him, Dogday jumped out of bed. He quickly began to stand his ground, glaring at the mysterious figure in front of him. "Get away from me, or I'll fight!"

The strange dog continued to approach him. Believing he was gonna attack, Dogday pounced on him. They crashed through the window and onto the ground. "I'm not gonna hurt you!" The strange dog growled in frustration as he kicked Dogday off of him.

"Yeah, I've heard that one before," Dogday spoke in sarcasm as he recovered, standing up and swiping his claws at the strange dog.

"No, truly," the dog said as he avoided Dogday's claws. "I'm your father."

"What?" Dogday stopped, looking at the dog in front of him with shock. Did he hear that right? This dog...was his father?

"Son... it's me."

Dogday looked at the dog. He couldn't believe it, but he knew right away. Even if he was a toy, everything about him was the same. He still had that bushy cream colored muzzle, and brown fur. Even the dark brown ears were familiar.

"No, that's not true, that's impossible," Dogday said in disbelief. "My dad... he's gone."

"I'm back, now, Dogday," his dad approached him, wanting to pull him into a hug, but Dogday recoiled back.

"No, get away from me!"

"Please, just listen to me!" Dogday's father pleaded, but Dogday spoke before he could say anything else.

"Why would I listen to you? You abandoned me! Don't pretend you care now!"

With that, he pushed his father away as he stormed off. Dogday's father sighed. "Maybe he's right," he said, before walking away. However, unknown to them, Angel Dust, Dogday's boyfriend from Hell, was nearby, having witnessed and heard the whole thing.

Later, Angel found Dogday, who was sitting on top of a big box shaped machine, sobbing as tears poured out from his eyes.

"Puppy cakes, are you okay?" Angel Dust asked with concern.

"No, I'm not okay!" Dogday snapped. "I can't believe that guy, just showing up out of nowhere!"

"But he's your dad, isn't he?" Angel asked, climbing up and taking a seat next to Dogday.

"You don't understand, Angel," Dogday started. "Before I came here, my life was horrible."

.....

"I was like a lot of regular dogs, born in a cardboard box, in an alley. But my family hated me. I was the runt. The weakling. The weirdo."

As his family slept, Dogday tried to sleep with them, digging in between his brother and sister. Annoyed, his siblings pushed him back, and Dogday whimpered in response.

"Honey, look. Their first steps."

Later, Dogday and his siblings were learning how to walk, their proud parents watching as they did.