100 one-shots

Injured

842/750 words written.

Ever since his mother had re-married, Louis's quality of life had deteriorated beyond comparison. Not only was he upset by the divorce of his parents, but he now had to live with a step-father he despised as well. The step father in question hadn't really done anything in Louis's disfavour. However, he did have a rather cliche fatherly attitude to him, which his newly acquired step-son did not appreciate.

An interesting conversation took place that night on the streets of the city. Two paternal figures, both eager to show off the abilities of their respective children, had made a simple exchange of words escalate from small talk to a war-like verbal competition. The Doberman stood tall, looking into the eyes of his opponent.
"My son is quite strong," he spoke, "and he's exceptionally agile. I'm sure yours couldn't even hope to match up with him."
The German shepherd laughed mockingly, he wouldn't let all those empty threats intimidate him. He knew his son was superior, after three years of training – he had to be.
"Well, we'll see, won't we?" He laughed once more, walking away from the proud Doberman, on his way to fetch his son. "If that mutt of yours doesn't give up too fast, that is..."

Louis lied down on his bed lazily, it had been a long day. Between trying to sort a messy situation with his friend, and trying not to be too harsh on his mother for re-marrying, he'd become tired. In fact, he'd been waiting to rest all day. His paws ached, his eyes felt sore, and his spine just wouldn't give him a break. He closed his eyes, resting his tired body between the warm sheets. He was so glad to be home. That precious moment of peace and quiet wouldn't last very long, however.

The door went flying open with a loud "bang", making the young canine jump out of his skin. He lifted his head, in an attempt to understand the situation – but before he knew it, he'd been tackled by a German shepherd almost twice his size. The dog in question had taken Louis completely by surprise, giving himself the upper hand. Quickly, he bit at his opponent's ear, eager to win the fight his enemy wasn't even warned about. By the time his opponent had let go of his ear, Louis had finally assimilated the situation. With all the strengths he had in his back legs, he pushed the shepherd dog off him, finally finding the time to stand up on his paws. The pain in his ear was unbearable, but he forced it into the back of his mind. A loud growl resounded throughout the room, as the German shepherd made an effort to attack Louis again – this time, he attempted to bite at his front paws. However, Louis was indeed very agile. He quickly dodged the attack, jumping over the large mass of muscles that was that dog – and landed right behind him. Before he could even turn around, the GSD found himself flying towards a wall, colliding with it and making the entire room shake. Not particularly enthusiastic to finish the tussling session, Louis ran out of the room as fast as he could and left the house entirely. 

This had brought back so many memories of times Louis didn't like to think about. When he was a child, his mother had thought he was precocious enough to be in the adults' class of agility training. Sure, he was quite skilled for his age, but being so small among so many older canines was a traumatizing experience, and his pride took a hit every time somebody was better than him at anything at all. He's always been quite a prideful one among the rest, in fact, it is one of his biggest weaknesses. He despises failure and the idea of losing to someone else, therefore he tries to avoid most conflicts if he doesn't feel confident enough to get into them.

Drained, he let himself fall onto the grass behind a tree – he'd gone far enough to avoid encountering that shepherd again. The pain in his right ear had become too much for him to ignore. He placed his paw on it, wincing, and his eyes went wide. He didn't feel his ear there. In a moment of absolute terror, he looked at his paw, realizing it was now coated in a thin layer of red liquid – blood. His ear had been bitten off and there was nothing he could do to go back and fix it, it would remain there for the rest of his life, reminding him that he wasn't the best he could be. For the rest of his life, he would have to remember the moment his step-father had betrayed him, and forced him into the illegal activity of dog fighting.
Some mistakes can be undone, or forgotten. His step father's mistake would haunt him forever, and remain anchored deep inside Louis's heart in the form of pure hatred and burning desire for revenge.