Week 13: Leo and the Corpse (Storytelling)

It was dusk as we walked through the woods back to the village. Colors were muted and dull as the sunset faded behind us. The little light we had was filtered through the trees. I could hear Alex, my older brother, trudging behind me, breathing deeply. Up ahead I could hear Alex’s dog, Leo, trotting in front of us. His large shape was barely visible, a smudge of darker grey than the rest of our surroundings.

“I told you we should have left earlier,” I said. We would have to pass through the cemetery to get home. There had been stories told about corpses rising at night from the cemetery.

“Quit being a child,” Alex scoffed. “And anyways, I thought we were close on the trail of the deer. We both wanted meat to bring home to the family. It’s not my fault we didn't find it.”

"Clearing in the Forest" by Ivan Shiskin. Wikimedia.

Silence filled the air again, not even crickets sang. The silence felt eerie. Finally, we made it out of the trees. Only the field and the cemetery stood between home and us now. After we walked a little ways into the field, Leo stopped and darted back to us. The hair on his back was filly raised. He sniffed both Alex and me, as if making sure we were alright, before he turned and growled. I stopped; Alex pulled up short next to me. Leo stood a bit ahead of us, head down, muscles tense, a low rumble coming though his barred teeth.

We were nearly to the cemetery. I could see the dotting of grave stones on the horizon. Leo faced that direction. I squinted looking for what Leo saw or smelled. At first, I didn’t see anything. But Then Alex gasped and pointed. “Marcus…” he whispered to me, “That couldn't be…”

I focused on where Alex pointed. Finally, I made out a splotch of light grey fabric, probably white in normal light. It floated off the ground, unmoving but directly in the path we were set to take. “I don’t know… What do we do?” I whispered to Alex.

He subtly shook his head. “Well we can’t very well go back. There’s no where we can stay in the woods. The only thing we can do is try to go past it.” I nodded, trying to keep calm. We both took a step at the same time. Leo stayed a step or two ahead of us, keeping himself between the floating fabric. As we approached, the thing seemed to turn slowly.

Then it started towards us. My vision cleared as it approached. It was a dead person in their funeral shroud. It glided a foot or so off the ground, much more quickly than I expected it too. “Run!” I shouted as Alex and I both took off. Leo had other ideas. As quickly as we took off running towards town, Leo tore off in the direction of the corpse. “Leo!” I yelled at him as he began attacking the floating figure. “Leo! Come on!”

Alex was a good few dozen feet away now. He left me and Leo behind without a look back, although I hope he thought we were right behind him. I wasn't going to leave our the dog to die because of our stupidity for staying out too late.

I grabbed rocks and began throwing them as hard as I could at the corpse. I knew it wouldn't help much. But maybe at least it would distract it from attacking Leo. I was a little ways away, so if it came after me I would have a bit of head start.

It seemed disoriented. It would begin after me once rocks hit it but then Leo would bite at its feet until it turned back to him. And around and around we went until finally the thing seemed to decide we were being more trouble than we were worth. As quickly as it had come after us, the shrouded figure sailed back towards the cemetery and disappeared.

I was breathing hard, as was Leo. He walked slowly over towards me as I doubled over, trying to catch my breath. Gently, Leo sighed and licked my face. A thank you, I think. I smiled and petted before we began to walk back home again.

We finally arrived back home, exhausted and ready to fall asleep. All of my siblings and parents rushed out to meet us. They were all wide-eyed with worry, no doubt having listened to Alex’s story after he fled. It seemed like he had been home a while.

Alex walked slowly out the door, eyes downcast, not looking directly at me. Before I knew what happened Leo lunged at him. He snapped at Alex only a little gentler than he had bit at the corpse. 

Everyone was shocked but jumped into action, pulling the dog away from Alex. My other brothers and sisters struggled against Leo’s weight as Alex tried to make it inside. I rushed forward, petting Leo and trying to calm him. After a minute or so he finally stopped. After one last growl towards Alex, he turned back towards me.

That night Leo became my dog. Alex complained about it, since he had been the one to take care of Leo as a puppy. But are parents said if Alex really wanted the dog, he wouldn't have left Leo and I to the ghost corpse. Leo has never forgiven Alex. Every time Alex comes into the room Leo growls and walks over to sit at my feet. I like having my own protector dog. And I will never do anything to get on that Leo’s bad side. 

By Caroline Granycome. Wikimedia

Author's Note: The original story was called The Dog and the Corpse from the Russian Folklore Unit. The story was about a man whose dog saved him from a corpse/ghost and then he leaves the dog to fight and die. The dog finally gets away and tries to attack the man for leaving him. After the dog keeps attacking the man the dog is killed.

I changed a few things in this story although the basic concept is the same. The character, Marcus which I made for my point of view character was not in the original story at all. I added him because I wanted there to be one character that did help the dog. Also the Marcus left a way for the dog to not be killed at the end, because I didn't like that part of the story. The only other real change I made besides the addition of a new character was naming the brother and the dog.