It was a night like any other night. I jumped out of the chilled atmosphere into bed, covered myself up with my comforter, and wiggled my muzzle as far into the pillow fibers as possible. My face raked down the woven fabric and released the human fragrances from many nights past...peaceful. A couple a minutes ticked by, and then a realization struck me, I’m in serious danger. This isn’t my house! I’m at my grandfather’s farmhouse. I rolled out of bed and peered out through the draped windows and I found dawn was fast encroaching upon the violet haze of night. Everyone was gone; no family, friend, or recognizable faces exist. As the fog cleared from head, I understood now that I am the last of the world I knew. The house was about 80 yards from the nearest road, and in that distance I saw movement. It was a rusty white and baby blue truck creeping along with its windows down. The cab was so dark inside it was almost like it was driving itself. This was it, I thought; they know I’m around here! I pulled my body out of the window on to the dry block wall. The truck clawed by with a low rumble and the faint whisper of engine belts.
I began searching the house for any signs of life; calling out hello and explaining my need for help. No one responded, yet everything I said seem to soak into the walls as if the house was listening to me…watching me. The amber sunlight began to paint the rooms and breathe life into the wood furniture. I neared the end of clearing the house and came to the last door unsearched, the attic. I reached up and unlatched the brass deadbolt across the doors broad shoulder. The door opened silently, exposing the narrow crawlspace behind it. I climbed up the pine steps toward the dusty rafters above. As I ascended the room begun to reveal itself, it seemed to be frozen in time as if completely separate from the world below. I couldn’t bring myself to take the last two steps into the room. I stopped, because the air stopped… time stopped. All I could do was spin back around to take in the rest of the room. I looked around at the disjointed floor boards and cobwebs that seemed to be holding up the insulation. My eye paned over the room, passed a dimly backlit window frosted with dirt, and landed on the sunken husk of a panting ghoul staring back at me from arm’s length. I tried to gasp but the air was still frozen. However this reaction drew the ghoul in, feverishly pouring his oily eyes over my face.
With only two choices of direction I took the final steps up into the attic. The crouching beast’s eyes followed my movement as I walked up and around to his side. I kept my head down but all the same not losing sight of him. He defensively angled his arm between us and quickly shuffled backward next to the window, never taking his harsh gaze off me. I looked around the room once more and my eyes fell upon an old wooden skateboard. Deciding I need this board, I slowly picked up it up while keeping my eye anchored on the shifting horror slumped by the window. Turning to the exit, I began my decent back down the steps, never breaking from his stare. As my vision began to sink under the wooden floor boards his body began to lean forward and neck stretched out to keep the last bit of my movements in his sight. The air began to swim around me with life as I reached the bottom step. I could hear the last faint shuffles above me as I closed the attic door behind me and latching the deadbolt for the last time.
Leaving the house quickly became top priority. The sliding glass door that lead to the front porch rumbled as I pulled it opened, grinding up the debris collected in its tracks. The outside held a golden summer morning with a light breeze that splashed my face with the smell of fresh grass and honeysuckle. I walk to the end of the drive, laid the skateboard down at my feet, and preceded on my dream world journey.
The rest of the dream was quite a ride. I teamed up with a post-apocalyptic gang of nomadic bikini skating chicks. They guided me to the only known safe zone in the area, before continued on their own way. Unfortunately for me the town was nearly empty, and shortly after my arrival it was seized by an army of unknown assailants dropping from modified harriers. I initially evaded them until cornered by one attacker; an armored, seven foot tall, dog faced humanoid with a laser rifle. Needless to say I outwitted him with a diversion, commandeered his weapon, and in the struggle shot him. I took off into space with his harrier and docked with the much bigger mother ship. There I found that it wasn’t just dog people scaling this war; cats, bears, giraffes, hippos, all makes of hybrid bipeds. I later learned that there were non-aggressors of each breed that tended more in currency than killing. They explained to me that Earth was more or less a lottery started millions of years ago. Furthermore, that each animal was placed on the earth, and was a de-evolved marker to its respective gambler. Whoever had the highest population at the end wins. They continued to clarify to me that on their return to earth to check the scores, the found humans all over. Apparently this created a problem because we were not a placed marker, and they were unclear how we showed up in the first place. One might understand their disappointment at an age old bet being stalemated into a no win scenario. So they threw down the penalty flag and decided man needed to be eradicated… it was nothing personal. Well one thing led to another, and I blew up the alien ship after escaping back to Earth. Becoming the unsung hero of the galaxy, and all just in time to slap snooze on my wailing alarm clock.