Martin's Dog

"Hey Peter, have you seen A Dead Child?" Martin, upon returning home and entering the doorway, called throughout the house then stopping in the living room to see his dog strangling itself. "Goddamn it." Martin crouched down to loosen his dog's grip.

"No! I want to die!"

"I know."

Of course Martin knew. It was the only thing his dog: A Dead Child, could say. Between grief over its own existence and expressions of disapproval, A Dead Child couldn't say much else.

"Here you go–!" Martin fastened a neck brace to keep A Dead Child from strangling itself. The dog fell to its side and felt the cone around its neck with its front paws composed of just two human hands, which allowed it to chock itself but took a while to take effect due to their short length.

"No!" Dead Child flopped around on the floor like a fish, rolling over in a panic and exposing its stomach as well as the palms of its hands. Martin scratched A Dead Child's stomach and behind its Koala shaped ears.

After this, Martin left A Dead Child to talk with Peter, going into his room and asking "Hey, have you seen A Dead Child?"

"No." Peter read his book.

"That's what I thought. Are you aware that A Dead Child tried to strangle himself again?"

"I really try not mess with that thing."

"So you'd rather just stay cooped up in your room all day?"

"Yes."

"No!" A Dead Child walked into the open room and jumped onto the bed he couldn't usually go on. He started rubbing his nose in the covers until Martin tried to shoo him off.

"Get! Get off of there."

"No!"

Martin managed to get A Dead Child off the bed and shut the door to Peter's room. In the kitchen, Martin pulled out a milk flavored bone from a bag and asked "Do you want a treat?"

"No!" A Dead Child yelled before gobbling up the treat from Martin's hand. "I want to die!"

"Shut up, would you?"