Growl

My dog has always been kind of overexcited, running up and down the corridor, jumping all over our guests, relentlessly barking, and so on. I’m aware it’s probably my fault for not being strict enough and encouraging this type of behaviour when he was a puppy. However, over the past few days, he has been very quiet. A bit too quiet. He’s always hiding under the bed or behind the curtains, and sometimes, he even tries to hide under our linens, which is unusual since he’s never been allowed on the bed.

Up until today, I just shrugged it off. It was peaceful not having him running about all the time, but right now, he won’t come out from under a few boxes laying on top of an old pallet in the basement. It’s been a couple of hours already, and all I’ve managed to get out of him is this strange, unnatural growl whenever I try to get close to the boxes. Maybe he ate something that didn’t sit well with his stomach; all I know is that it doesn’t sound like him at all. I flipped the light switch on, but the light bulb blew, causing the growling to start again.

He sounds so angry, and I’m worried that he might be hurt. I decide to lay flat on my stomach and reach out to him in the pitch-black darkness, hoping to grab his collar. As my eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, I feel his warm breath on my hand, joined by the slight yet eerie vibration of his guttural growl. He’s never bitten me before, but I can’t shake off this sense of dread as I move my hand in closer.

Suddenly, I hear a dog yelping from the opposite side of the basement, and I instinctively turn my head around, only to notice my dog curled up in the corner, staring at the creature baring its sharp teeth from under the boxes.