The Sunshine Project - Pt. 01

"Shep!" I try not to make too much noise calling him. If Jess wakes up I'm going to have to fuck her all night, which doesn't sound like a bad thing, but there is still a chance she wakes up and forgets everything that just happened. If we screw all night, she will slowly sober up, and then she'll remember everything. I'm not sure how I'd handle that.

"Shep, come back here."

I hear a crash and Shep yelps. "Idiot," I hiss at him, and I see flashing lights all over the living room carpet. His paws seem to hit every single toy on the floor. One by one they shut off, except one. I move toward it, stepping on a few guns in the dark, and realize it's in Shep's mouth.

"Dammit, Shep. Give me the toy."

Reaching out, I try to snatch it but he takes off running. Everywhere he goes I see the green glow of the toy in his mouth. He thinks this is a goddamn game, and I'm not having it. "Fucking give it to me," I snap, my volume growing louder as I chase him. He leaps over the back of the couch and runs to the door, so I scurry around the furniture in his direction, but as I'm three steps away he weaves between the legs of the table and chairs pushed under it and darts back into the living room. The entire time the gun stays lit up, so I can see exactly where he is.

"You're going to get it!"

I take off running through the living room after him and see a flash of light in the mirror. It's so bright I have to cover my eyes for a second, or maybe it's just lightning. Either way, it's followed by a clap of thunder, and Shep yelps. The gun drops to the floor, and he darts down the hallway toward the laundry room again. My pinky toe slams into the leg of the coffee table, and I shout in pain. Hopping on one foot I bounce over to the couch and sit down. It's so dark I can't see, but I swear I broke my toe.

The gun glows for a few more seconds then goes dark. I hear Shep whimpering down the hall, but it serves him right. He should be sorry for the way he acted. I just wanted to comfort him, and he was a total jerk.

When the pain from smashing my toe subsides, I carefully make my way toward the table near the bottom of the stairs where I stashed my bag when I came in. My phone is buried there in it somewhere, and I need the flashlight to see what I'm doing. I want to find a candle or something. I fish my phone out and use the flashlight feature to see the carnage. At least thirty toy guns lay scattered on the carpet and no Shep in sight. Now I know he went to his kennel.

I still hear his whimpers, but I decide to go to the kitchen for a candle first. I don't want to kill the battery on my phone using it as a flashlight. I can't charge it. I know Jess keeps candles in one of these drawers. I saw them earlier when I was looking for a spoon to stir her coffee. I open them one by one, and find two tapered candles but no lighter. "Fuck..." I growl and sigh, and as I do the lights flicker back on. "Thank god!"

With the power back on I don't need my phone flashlight, so I shut that off, put the candles back in the drawer, and look at the mess of guns scattered all over the living room. Shep really did a number on the couch too. His muddy paw prints mean Jess will have to shampoo the upholstery. Stupid dog. I shake my head and listen to his whining in the other room as I pick up the guns and carefully place them back into the tub. They're heavier than I remember, though it is late, and I did just expend some extra energy with Jess.

When the box is full, I head for the laundry room where Shep is still nose whistling. The storm has him pissing himself, and I just want to put the laundry on and get to sleep. As it is, if he keeps this up, I'm going to have to crawl back into bed with Jess because he's so loud I'll never sleep through that.

I push the door of the laundry room open, ready to scold him for being so whiny, but when I look into his kennel he isn't there. The door is closed, and the kennel is empty, except for the blanket he normally sleeps on, his water dish, and his favorite Kong toy.

"Dammit, Shep," I snarl, realizing the damn bastard is hiding from me. I step farther in and look behind the door, but he isn't there. His whining is coming from the dryer area, so I creep over there and peek around the end of the dryer, expecting him to be huddled in the corner, but the only thing there is an empty basket. "What the fuck?"

I shake my head and realize the whining is coming from inside the dryer, which blows my mind because Shep is a big boy. The door is slightly ajar, and the noise is definitely coming from inside. The hollow metal drum reverberates with each whimper. I pull the door open and bend down, ready to pry the fat idiot out of the tiny opening, but I nearly fall over when I see him.

"Shep?" In shock, I back away. He's small--very small. Like the size of a fucking chihuahua small. "What the hell? Holy fuck." I cover my mouth and realize I'm pressing myself against the wall. "How did you--?"

Shep's left ear flops over as he cocks his head, his whimpers fading. He sits on top of a pile of clean towels laundered and dried earlier today. They're muddy too, caked in the shit from his paws. His collar dangles around his waist like a belt, but how?

I slide down the wall staring at him, mouth covered, sort of scared. How does a full-size German Shephard get shrunken? He doesn't even look like a puppy. He looks like himself, only smaller. Like exactly like himself but about a fourth the size of his normal body. "Holy shit, Jess is going to kill me." As if Jess asking me to finish her wasn't the weirdest thing that happened to me tonight, something is really fucked up here.

"Oh my god, how did this happen?" I shake my head again, muttering aloud to myself as Shep stands in the door of the dryer drum. He yaps at me then leaps down and runs over to me. I squeal and jump up, racing out of the room and shutting the door. Whatever did that to him might still be in there, and I want nothing to do with it. If he touches me, he might shrink me.

I back down the hallway past the kitchen then turn and pace near the dining table until my eyes land on the box of guns.

The green flash of light...

The clap of thunder... Was it thunder?

My jaw drops, and I feel my heart stop.

It was the gun.