The Neighborhood Monster

Today is the day that I will finish the story of my journey after leaving my family in order to find happiness. Let's get right into it!

The next morning after my incident at Jacks, I decided to head to the forest nearby to see what I could find to eat. It was quite a distance away, but I didn't have another choice. I finally reached the forest's edge and eventually came across a deer.

"Hello there, Ms. Deer," I said.

The deer looked up and said, "Hi, how are you?"

I normally always try to be positive, but this time I wanted to just be honest.

"I'm tired, cold, hungry, dirty, and honestly feel alone," I responded.

"Very sorry to hear that," uttered the deer. "I would be more than happy to help show you how to scavenge up some food if you would like."

Without hesitation, I took the deer up on her offer. She showed me how she often searches for blueberry bushes for a nice meal. Together we walked around in the forest, eating the blueberries straight off of the bushes just like she had demonstrated.

All of a sudden, I heard a noise in the distance. I had heard this noise before, yet I couldn't make out what it was. The noise was getting louder and louder as if it was headed straight in my direction. I finally remembered what it was. I had to get out of there and fast.

"Thank you so much for the berries, but I have to go," I told the deer. "I recommend you start heading the other direction as well."

The deer took off, and I began running back to my neighborhood as fast as I could. I finally made it back to the forest's edge when I saw the source of the noise. It was just as I had expected. The malicious mailman was back and paying another visit to my neighborhood.

"Wait, doesn't the mailman come every day? How come this was the first time you had heard him?" interrupted one of the pups.

That's a great question. The mailman must have been out of service because this was the first time he had been back in the neighborhood since I had left home.

"Oh, okay," responded the pup.

Let's see where was I... oh, yes the malicious mailman.

Anyways, I saw the mailman after coming out of the forest and knew he was headed straight to attack my house. Tom would kill me if I returned back home and broke my promise, but my people were in danger. I decided that I had to protect my people, so I took off towards home.

The mailman had an advantage with his metal machine, but he was no match for a strong, loyal dog like myself. After running for what felt like forever, I saw my house on the horizon. I was so close. I sprinted even faster and finally made it to the front steps of my house. Not long after, the mailman began to approach my house.

I ran up to him and jumped on the side of his metal machine, barking and growling. Startled, the mailman let out a scream.

"Get away from me you mutt," he yelled.

I continued barking as loud as I could, and the mailman became terrified. He took off down the street in his machine. I did it! I had saved my family from his attack.

Just when I thought everything was over, my owner, Reece, swung open the front door.

"Howie! Where have you been?" he yelled in excitement as he began approaching me with his arms opened wide.

"Oh no", I thought. "Tom is not going to like this."

Reece picked me and brought me inside. He wouldn't stop hugging and kissing me, and I honestly could barely breathe. Tom came from around the corner of the kitchen, and his jaw dropped when he saw who Reece had in his hands.

Reece's phone rang, so he put me on the ground and left the room. I was left alone as Tom stared me down from across the room.

"We made an oath," said Tom.

"I know," I said. "But I couldn't let anything happen to my family.

Lindsey and Luis arrived home later that evening and were just as excited to see me as Reece was.

For the next couple of weeks, Reece and Lindsey gave me all of their attention. They had missed me so much that they ended up kicking Tom out of the bed, so I could sleep with them each night. They fed me scraps after they ate dinner and let me lay on their laps when they watched tv. I finally felt like I had the love and attention that I had been searching for.

Tom and I did not speak a word those couple of weeks. Any time I would get even the slightest bit close to him, he would growl and hiss at me.

One day, Tom had enough. He was no longer receiving any more attention from our owners, and so he managed to run out of the door one day when Reece took out the trash. I never saw him again, and I have no idea where he ended up going. All I knew was that I was happy, and I finally had the family that I had always wanted.

"Wow, what a happy ending!" said one of the pups.

Yes, it was. I was finally home and happier than ever.

"Do you still live with them? asked another pup.

I do, and Luis is now five years old!

Well to conclude today's class, I want to thank all of you for being such great listeners to my story. One interesting thing is that many say that my story is the reason that cats and dogs don't get along to this day. But anyway, you better all hurry home and enjoy the weekend with your families. And remember, the outside world isn't what it may seem, so don't take your families for granted.

"Bye!" said the puppies as they all ran back to their homes throughout the neighborhood.

Author's Note: In order to write this final story, I utilized two other stories. The first story I used tells the story of a couple of dogs saving their owner from some mysterious creature while the master was camping. The dogs gave up their own lives in order to protect their master from that evil creature. In my story, I wanted the evil creature to be represented through the mailman. Although the mailman does not kill anything unlike the creature did, Howie still sees him as a threat to his owners. The stories are very different, but the idea of an "evil being" remains consistent between the first story I utilized and my story. The second story I used as a source is the same source story that I used for my first story titled, "Howie Embarks on His Journey." In the original story, the dog returns home by accident after making an oath with the cat to never interfere with each other ever again. In the original story, the dog can't stay at the house where the cat is because the cat is not willing to befriend the dog. The individual who lives at the house says that they will be fighting forever, which is true and is why cats and dogs have never been able to get along. In my story, I wanted the dog to encounter the cat again just like in the original. I also had Howie's story be the supposed reason that cats and dogs are believed to not get along, which is very similar to the original.

Story Source: "Dogs Save Their Master" from Sacred Texts.

"The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog" from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Aunt Naomi (pseud. Gertrude Landa), [1919]. Website: sacred-texts.com.