Week 5: A Dog's Life (Storytelling)

I had been trotting along for a couple hours with my brothers when I felt a tug at my leash. I stopped and turned around to keep from choking myself. So did my older brother John, who was a few steps in front of me, his collar tight against his neck. Thomas, our youngest brother had stopped to talk with the crying man and the old man who were setting up near the trees.

John barked at Thomas and I did my best annoying dog whine, trying to communicate that we needed to keep moving. Thomas glared up at us and gave a sharp tug on the ropes, pulling us both backwards. John and I exchanged a look and began slowly meandering back. John growled quietly to show his discontent with the whole situation.  

When we got back to Thomas, he was listening intently to the old man, and looking very interested in the crying guy. “Wow!” said Thomas, “Mind if we hang out here too? I’d love to see what happens with the genie.” I yipped at him and he turned towards me. “We can stay a few hours Will.” I whined again.

“That’s fine,” the old man said. “Just make sure your dogs don’t try to eat my deer. The genie should show up soon”

I really didn’t want to see a genie. Last time I saw a magical creature, my fantastic opposable thumbs were turned into useless paws that can’t do anything but walk. They could scratch too, but apparently, I used them on Thomas too much, because he cut the nails short. Seriously, how was I supposed to communicate something as a dog? Whining and yipping, growling, and scratching only get you so far and now I couldn’t even scratch.

Thomas sat down and I reluctantly followed him. I walked a few steps away from Thomas and laid down, keeping as much distance between me and Thomas with the old man and his pet deer. John came and joined me, sighing heavily. Soon, another old man came. I didn’t pay him any mind, but Thomas started talking to him too.

I dozed off sometime, dreaming about standing up straight again and being able to go somewhere my brother doesn’t lead me. John and I had lived almost ten years as dogs, and we had almost made it.

I’ll admit I’m scared to see the fairy again. Who knows, maybe she’ll decide this last decade of torture wasn’t enough and kill us anyways or refuse to change us back. If that happens, I swear I will become an attack dog. I was dreaming of eating soup with a spoon again when I smelled smoke, or dust or something. I opened my eyes and turned my head towards the others.

There a huge genie stood, sword in hand, holding on to the crying man. I could smell the fear throughout the entire group; John could too, for he went and stood by Thomas. I followed. If anything happened to Thomas, we would never be turned back into humans. We had to make sure this crazy genie didn’t turn on him suddenly.

The first old man began babbling about something, I don’t really know. But the genie was listening intently, as was Thomas and the crying guy. I heard something about a cow, a son calf, and a deer wife… Oh, his wife is the deer he had on a leash. What a weird coincidence.

Then the genie looked at Thomas expectantly. Thomas began to tell our story, but he got it all wrong… Okay, maybe not all wrong, but we did not deserve to be turned into dogs.

Basically, ten years ago we all decided to go traveling. Yes, Thomas had to give us some money to make due, but between you and me, I think he was ripping off some of our business. Seriously, how does the youngest brother make so much more money than two older brothers, who happen to be in the same? Because of that, and maybe a little gambling, John and I kept going broke.  Anyways we left, and it was all good for a while.

We were all making some money, having fun, and seeing the world. This this crazy chick comes up to Thomas and starts begging him to marry her. And let’s be honest, Thomas is a push over. This girl is obviously a gold digger. I mean she’s dressed in rags, and the first thing she gets Thomas to do is buy her a new, fancy dress.

My memory gets kinda sketchy here. After they were married for a while, John comes up to me and says he’s annoyed at Thomas and the new bride. She’s taking some of our money, not working, and Thomas just wants to hang out with her all the time. So John says we should play a little prank on them.

I remember thinking it was a good idea at the time, because I was sick of them too. But looking back, throwing them overboard doesn’t seem like such a good prank. I didn’t want them to die, but maybe John did, or maybe he wasn’t thinking straight either. Anyway, we threw them off the ship.

But lo and behold, the crazy girl is a fairy. I mean, we never would have messed with her if we knew she had magic and stuff. So she saves them both, then goes and turns us into dogs and sends us to Thomas. Then she told Thomas were to take is in ten years to turn us back human after our punishment was over.

Thomas finally finishes the story and the genie seems satisfied. I yip at Thomas, trying to spur him on. If he were a dog, he’d definitely be in more of a hurry right now. Then the third guy starts talking to the genie, and I lay back down. It’s gonna be a long night.

By Audrey. Black German Shepherd. Wikimedia

Author's Note: This rewrite was of Two Black Dogs, with a little bit from The Merchant and the Genius, and The Old Man with the Hind. All three of these stories were interconnected which is why mine had a little bit from each of them. In the Two Black Dogs story, two brothers get turned into dogs by a fairy after they throw their brother and the fairy off of a boat. The story is being told by the human brother to a genie inside of the Merchant and the Genius's story. 

I made the point of view as one of the dog brothers, just to change it up a bit. Also I thought the dog brothers would probably have a little different view of what had happened that led to them being turned into dogs, so I tried to include that. 

Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).