Ally's Warning

The day that you left,

Faded into the clear sky,

Made me a pebble

Dakota released a dissatisfied breath, folding up her poem after revision and stashing it in her sweatpants. After hooking the grey leash to Ally’s pink collar, she also slipped a thick-handled, steel kitchen knife into her pocket for protection. The realization of how silly her actions seemed was not her priority as she inhaled deeply and pushed the sliding door aside so the dog could bustle across the threshold into the bleak, meager patch of grass behind their townhouse. Despite her mother’s repeated warnings, the door remained ajar to perpetuate an environment of comfort. If whatever that thing is decided to make its move that night, all she would have to do is grab Ally and dash inside.

Dakota fidgeted and grasped the cool handle of the knife as the young Labrador sniffed around her favorite tree, thus far unbothered by the eerie calm of the wooded perimeter that gave her owner a fierce anxiety in the base of her stomach. Nature’s music rang through the crisp, October air: crickets chirping, a distant owl cooing, and a neighbor’s car peeling through the adjacent parking lot. “C’mon, ‘lil girl,” she breathed, “please just pee.”

Suddenly her angst was justified. Ally jolted her large head upwards and focused her stare on the foliage beside them. Routinely, she bared teeth and released a warning growl before exploding into a noisy barking rampage. Dakota was again torn between controlling her dog’s outburst and discovering what the hell was extracting such an uncharacteristic reaction from the calm, sweet animal.

Less bumbling than usual, but still bumbling, Dakota slipped the leash’s handle around her wrist and plunged her hand into her hoodie’s pocket to obtain her iPhone. The teenager’s shaking fists clutched the knife and the phone whose flashlight she had activated; meanwhile, Ally’s thunderous barks continued to echo through the otherwise quiet apartment complex. Dakota desperately and fearfully peered between leaves and sticks, quaking. More than anything she wanted to know what had been terrorizing her and her canine companion; yet, the courage she had mustered to search the poorly lit line of trees for a perpetrator was running thin.

“Dakota, what did I tell you about this damn door!” An almost equally frightening noise sounded from the opened door.

Her mother, Amy’s, voice forced her to return to reality and acknowledge that there was nothing in the woods once again. Needless to say, she had no excitement for the forthcoming conversation. Dakota interrupted Ally’s already subsiding barks with a gentle tug of the leash, “C’mon, girly.”

On approaching the door, the two were met by Amy’s visible aggravation and immediate berating. “What are you thinking? It is eleven o’clock at night and you have that stupid dog out there barking its head off! What’s wrong with you?”

It took everything Dakota had to stifle an instinctual eyeroll as she sidestepped inside behind the chestnut brown animal, “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you there’s got to be something living in the woods right out back! It’s been months and every time I take Ally over there she barks like crazy and seems really shook up.”

“Then take her somewhere else!” Amy exclaimed as Dakota secured the door shut. She released an exasperated sigh, “Can you just keep her quiet? I told you we could only keep it if you took care of it, and that includes keeping her from annoying all our neighbors, so we don’t get evicted! And for the love of God, stop acting like such a child! You’re grown now, I shouldn’t have to tell you there’s no such thing as monsters!”

Dakota stood still for a moment as her mother trudged away, her slippers scuffing against the hard wood with each harsh stomp. She knew she was right to some degree. It would be easier to take her out front than to continue pondering the prospect of a wendigo lurking in the foliage behind the townhouse. She placed Ally’s leash onto the counter and clicked her tongue for her pet to follow.

_

A mother should lick

Her cub’s wounds, yet I have deep,

Bloody cuts from you

“Woah,” her boyfriend let out a puff of air after examining her latest work, “Well, it’s really good… a little dark.”

“I know it seems dramatic. It’s just how I feel. Lately she’s just been so much worse. Either she’s ignoring me for days, or she’s snipping at everything I do,” Dakota justified, pushing her food around with the back of her fork absentmindedly, “I just don’t understand this compulsion she has to constantly degrade me for anything I say or do.”

Myles sighed, reaching across the cafeteria bench to tuck a stray coil of hair from her face. “Well, baby, obviously I think you’re wildin’ about that whole demon in your backyard shit,” he chuckled passed a disapproving grunt from Dakota, “but even before your dad died, your mom always been kinda a bitch to you. Why you surprised?”

Frowning, Dakota directed her stare to the sea of peers eating lunch and laughing carelessly. She imagined her consciousness leaping from her body to one of theirs, leaving this exasperated, terrified form to crumble into nonexistence while she enjoyed a different life. As Dakota attempted to nonchalantly rub away tears forming in her round, brown eyes, Myles spoke again, “Listen, Kota. You been writing mystery stories. You been writing cryptic-ass haikus. You probably been watching Forensic Files. You’re either paranoid or you want there to be something out there. I promise there isn’t no creature or some shit lurking in the woods behind your house. ‘Ight, baby? You’ve got a tortured artist vibe going on right now that I ain’t into. Let’s take a hike or something after school, clear your head.”

Dakota scoffed, “Yeah, whatever.”

“C’mon,” Myles smiled. “I’m playin’ with you. But I really am a little worried. It’ll be good for you to just get out for a while. You can bring Ally too, obviously she sensing your stress. We can do ice cream after, that always put you in a good mood. You just need to relax and get out the house. Sound good?”

Dakota grinned weakly and nodded in agreement despite the feeling of utter emptiness that their conversation brought her. Myles was a constant in her life; he had read almost everything she had ever written and supported her talent, he was her first kiss, her confidant concerning previous issues her rocky relationship with her mother brought about, and the one who helped her hold it all together when she lost her father the year before. All this Dakota knew and attempted to consider despite the growing resentment she felt for her boyfriend also disregarding the seriousness of her situation. She could not accept that she was losing her mind.

_

Shaking, I realize

This world has nothing to give

To someone so small

She tapped the eraser of her mechanical pencil against the crisp pages of her small journal. She performed the haiku for her dog multiple times before posing the question, “Is that too cryptic?”

As if in reply, Ally lifted herself from the partially destroyed dog bed she had been resting on and made her way to the closed door of Dakota’s bedroom. After a sharp couple of whines, Dakota sighed and stood up, habitually grabbing a hoodie that previously resided on back of a chair and slipped it over her tank top. “Alright, let’s go,”

As she connected the grey leash to Ally’s collar, she fluttered her eyes up to the kitchen knife caddy. The instinct to procure one and investigate the woods was pushed away by two voices expressing their disbelief in her. She and her now leashed pet ambled towards the front door and began a new routine.

Despite the change in scenery, Dakota found it hard to fight the feeling of unease. Raindrops shot up from beneath her heels with each step on the sleek asphalt of the parking lot. Ally’s usual sniffing and exploring were now slow, torturous tasks that left her owner wondering if that thing was confined to the woods.

Like clockwork, the Labrador abruptly interrupted her bathroom break to direct a growl at the trees that outlined the property. Heart dropping and racing simultaneously as Ally’s barking resounded, Dakota’s widen eyes followed to where the dog’s attention was taken. Squinting for clues, she crotched beside Ally in attempts to soothe her, but the effort was in vain. For the first time since she had known the animal, she broke free from her hold after a few seconds of struggling. Ally sprinted around the building before Dakota could regain her bearings.

She tore across the squishy grass and it was not long before she spotted Ally snarling at that same spot in the foliage behind their unit. Dakota’s chest rose and fell rapidly as the rest of her body stood motionless. She only moved to whip her head around when she heard the familiar sound of the sliding door slamming open.

“What the hell, Dakota?” her mother snapped, “How many times are we gonna have to—”

“I did what you said! I took her out front, and she ran right back here! There’s something out there!” Dakota interrupted frantically.

“Okay, fine! Let’s see what it is so we can finally stop doing this!” Amy concluded as she stomped towards the woods, clad in only flimsy slippers.

“Mom, please, don’t…” Dakota trailed off as she witnessed the now muddy-footed woman march into the murky collection of bushes and trees.

“Hello?! Who’s out here?!” Amy shouted sardonically into the darkness.

With a menacing growl, Ally hunched forward and leapt into the woods after the woman. Dakota’s breath hitched and she remained frozen. Bewilderment captured her ability to process anything logically, but her brain still detected a series of screams and sounds of ripping flesh. The entirety of her being went numb when her sweet, calm dog returned from the darkness with blood oozing from her short snout.