Quick author note here, this was a writing challenge in which we were required to write a sequel to someone else's previous story. I chose one written by my friend Daniel of Once More With Extreme Prejudice. His story, Stan was written with the same prompt that I wrote The Face in the Door but was about a man seeing a mysterious door materialize and his cat speaking to him before disappearing through the door. From that premise, I continued with this little story of Stan's triumphant return. Enjoy:
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| Just a little doodle I did of Stan |
Years had passed since the Great Cat Depletion and the world
felt impossibly empty without them. I missed Stan and his furry little feet,
thumping across my room. I missed his soft purrs as he cuddled on my lap. Maybe
I didn’t miss the wet sneezes he unleashed on my face as I tried to sleep but
damnit, I missed the little fur ball all the same.
I could also do without the dog lovers of the world acting
so smug about it all. Like they’d made the correct pet choice simply because
theirs still existed. It was sickening, really. Sometimes I wished that those
owners would disappear through a door but, of course, that was never going to
happen.
At least, that’s what I thought. Nearly 3 years to the day
that Stan had disappeared through that strange glowing door, dogs began mysteriously
vanishing. I didn’t think much of it at first, there were always sick people
out there, taking people’s pets but the sheer volume of missing dog posters
became too much to ignore.
News reports began asking if dogs were disappearing just
like the cats. Maybe leaving for better places? It wouldn’t shock me, humanity
ruled this place and we pretty much all suck. I was always of the opinion that
we didn’t deserve the love and affection our pets brought us. That they were
better off without us interfering in our lives.
It took about a day for dog sightings to become as rare as
spotting a unicorn and about a week before we were certain that they were all
gone. Lost to the unknown, just like our cats. You could feel the world become
that much more miserable at the loss of two of the world’s most cherished pets.
It was downright depressing.
I sat alone in my apartment, watching my TV, like usual. The
reporter was going on about the strange disappearance of animals occurring,
some conspiracy nuts believed aliens took our pets for themselves. No one
really knew what to believe. Only a few of us actually saw the doors but even
we don’t know the full truth.
I passed out in my favourite chair, as the television began
playing sports highlights. I’m not sure how long I was out but it was pitch
dark outside and there was only static on the TV when something woke me. A
brighter greenish glow was flooding the living room.
I sat bolt upright when I saw that the light was coming from
the same green door that Stan had once disappeared into. A head poked it’s way
through the pet flap at the bottom and Stan emerged proudly. I stared in
disbelief as he sauntered happily towards me and leapt into my lap.
He looked up at me, his wide eyes glowing in the light and
said simply, “Phase two is complete.” Then he curled back up in my lap and
purred contentedly.
I was so overjoyed at his return; I barely registered the
faint barking coming from the door before it vanished back into the wall. Stan
never spoke to me again, perhaps I imagined the whole thing but then, the dogs
are all still gone.
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