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This is my story. A Housepets fanfiction.

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 8:40 pm
by Voidpaw
This might be my first post, but I just felt the need to post this here. I'm new here, but I have read the rules, and well, I've been working on this for a week or so, here's 20 pages of my very own fanfiction. The general idea has been used before, but I think I did an okay job, nonetheless. It revolves around three characters, mainly. King, Pete, and Me. You should read it and give me your constructive criticism! I would like to make this a novel-length fanfiction some day. Anyways, without further a due, here it is!

___________________________

Hello! I'm Ethan. I'm a death metal drummer from Ann Arbor, Michigan. I go to high school, but I'm in summer break right now. I go back to school as a junior on September 4th. I may play death metal, but I'm a very laid back guy, and I look like a normal 15-year-old-kid. My birthday is November 14th, and my favorite food is sushi. I am interested in lucid dreaming, and I like guns a lot. I also am in the SCA, (Society for Creative Anachronism) which is basically swordplay. I am proficient at using longswords, broadswords, and rapiers. Now that you know about me, I think it's time to tell the story!

The above facts and the following facts about me, my house, and my family are TRUE. It becomes fiction after – Well, you can find out yourself!


My name is Ethan William Hoffmann.
And this is my story.

DAY 1

I stepped outside my house and took a nice, deep, breath. I took in the crisp, fresh northern air of Ann Arbor, Michigan... Since this was a hippie city, the air was great, and everything was green and luscious. Today is August 9th. The day I dread -September 4th- is edging closer with every minute I wait. I haven't accomplished anything this summer except pass summer school classes. Unfortunately, I moved from Florida in the middle of the school year, all the way out here with my mother and grandmother, so I didn't complete Geometry. Hence the summer school classes which made my summer absolutely miserable. I have been-

“Ethan!”

Dang...

“ETHAN!” someone from inside my one story house yelled.

My mother. Ugh.

“...Yeah?” I said, with an irritated tone.

“I want you to clean the house while I'm gone – That means washing the dishes, vacuuming the carpet, dusting off the furniture, and -”

“Where are you going?” I interrupted.

“Well, I'm going to the bookstore to buy the new book everyone is talking about.”

“You mean 50 Shades of Crap?”

“Don't judge me! Anyways, I would like you to start cleaning now. Your grandmother is in her room going through her closet getting rid of old things, you should help her.”

“...Alright, fine. I'll be back inside in a minu-”

“NO, you'll start NOW,” she said, with a distinctive 'mom' tone in her voice.

“Alright, alright, just don't get your panties in a knot, geez.”

“Ha ha, very funny.” she said, sticking her tongue out at me.

“Well, I'll see you later, Ethan.”

“Alright, bye!” I waved to her as she slammed the car door shut making a loud THUD. I stood in the cool, wet grass with my bare feet until she pulled out of sight. I then stopped waving and headed inside to talk to my grandmother.

I really hope my grandmother has some cool stuff she doesn't want. She has SO much stuff in that closet, it just overflows with-

“Ethan?”

muffins and cookies it, cut me off again.

“Ethan, can you come help me?” my grandmother asked, with a soothing grandmother tone in her voice.

“Yeah, hold up, I'm going to get a drink first. All that dust from your closet is gonna suffocate me.”

I walked over to the kitchen, crossing from brown carpet to cold, checkered tile. The refrigerator was in a corner, near the laundry room door. I passed the usual on my five second journey – The microwave, the blender, the sink, the dusty old book -

Wait, what?

I have never seen this before. It looked like a battered old tome of some sort. It almost looked antique.

“Hey grandma, did you put this book here?” I asked, suspiciously.

“That old book? Yes, honey, it was my father's. You can have it if you like, it is and old history book he had before he disappeared. He absolutely loved reading it.”

“Oh... What kind of history book?”

I swept my hand over the cover. It felt warm, like it was going to burst into flames any second. The title of the book read: “T-e -is--ry of Ri--als”. It also had a pentagram drawn on the back, which really freaked me out.

“He always told me that it was a grown-up book when I was a child, so I never bothered to read it. But you're a young strapping lad, why don't you tell me all about it when you finish it?” she said.

“This book seems really dark,” I said, as I read the first words.



THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK ARE A COMPILATION OF DIFFERENT RITUALS PERFORMED BY VARIOUS RELIGIONS ACROSS THE WORLD, INCLUDING TRIBAL RITUALS, SATANIC RITUALS, AND CR--- DIM-----NAL RITUALS.

Wait, satanic rituals? And I can hardly read that last part. Maybe I can have this book repaired?

I decided to not mention the contents to my grandmother. I wouldn't want her to think badly of her father.

“This book is also really thick, I dunno if I can finish it,” I added.

She swerved around the corner and grabbed me by the wrist, tightly.

“Ethan. Do NOT believe anything that book says. Do you understand me?”

“Uh, this is kind of weir-”

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

I yanked my wrist from her arm. I noticed she grabbed my arm so tightly, that there were nail indentations...

“I'm sorry I grabbed you so tightly, deary... It's just I don't want you to leave like my father did.”

I was very nervous at this point. I started to sweat.

“Um, well, you can be sure I won't do anything crazy.”

I may have the same DNA as him, but he was outright insane.

“I sure hope so, sweetie. I'm trusting you, Ethan...” She suddenly had a very sincere tone to her voice that soothed me deeply.

“Alright. I'll be sure not to do anything strange. Let's make a promise. Deal?”

“Deal!” She said, with joy in her voice.

I could tell she cared about me, and was concerned for my safety while reading this book. It must have some crazy stuff in it. Wait.

Didn't she say she never bothered to read it?

I disregarded it.

I should probably start cleaning.

“Cleanin' these counters, all day long, cleanin' these counters while I sing this song,” I sang.

I finished the kitchen in mere minutes. I could see myself in the floor, it was so shiny! My white fur looked so good in -

My heart skipped a beat.

I stopped myself short, and sprinted to the bathroom, almost tripping on the vacuum power supply.

“Honey, what's the big rush?” My grandmother asked.

I tried to stay behind the wall. “Gotta use the bathroom, quick!”

I got to the bathroom seconds later and sighed in relief as I noticed it was just my imagination. It was probably the white tiles and my eyes playing tricks on me...

Back to cleaning.

I started to vacuum the carpet. I gazed out the window for a moment, looking at the serene sky – It looked so beautiful. The purple-brown sunset just caught my heart and took my breath away. I then noticed the vacuum was still running, and puffs of smoke came out of the bottom of it.

Crap!

I unplugged the vacuum quickly and turned it over. I let it sit for too long in one place, and the motor almost burned out.

“Whew,”

I smelled something just then. It smelled like... Burned hair? I patted down my head. I have short hair, so I would feel burning if it was on fire.

“Grandma, do you smell that?” I asked, concerned.

“Smell what? My money burning away in that vacuum?”

“No, I'm serious. I smell burned hair.”

“I don't smell it, sweetie. Maybe you're smelling the carpet.”

I looked down. What a relief. The carpet was just a little steamy from the vacuum.

I was now officially done with my chores! I felt so accomplished! Now I can go and play video games!

As I thought that, I looked over and saw the book sitting on the kitchen counter. I'll just read it after I get it repaired. Who knows how many pages are messed up? I got up from the carpet and folded up the vacuum, then wrapped the cable around it. I carried it to the closet, and put it on the bottom shelf. I then closed the door and thought to myself.

What if no one can repair this book? What if it's in an ancient language no one understands?

I need to stop thinking about it.

I turned the opposite direction from the closet and walked into my room. My room... The only place of peace in this place. Well, not really. It's okay here.

I sat down on my bed and looked at my glorious room – It was a rectangle. The long side of the rectangle had my bed along it in a corner, and the door was on the opposite long side, in the same corner. My television was to the left of the door on a plastic tote. I had my stereo and game systems neatly tucked in next to it. To the left of those was my drumset. My pride and joy. It's back was facing the short wall, and it's front was facing the short wall near my bed and door. It was awesome – I had 9 cymbals in total surrounding the kit – I also had 5 tom toms, a snare, and a double bass pedal. I had various sticks, including some nice nylon tipped drumsticks.

Time to turn on my Game Boy Color, and relive my childhood.

I inserted Pokemon Yellow Version into the game cartridge slot, and turned it on. Luckily, it still had batteries in it from when I played it a few months back. The game showed the usual Pikachu running towards the screen. I skipped it, as always. I then mashed the A button until the main menu came up. I looked at my save file.

BADGES 8 POKEMON 143

143 out of 151. I looked up a legitimate guide to getting Mew yesterday, and was about to try it out. It consists of a glitch or two, but it requires no gameshark or gamegenie at all – That's what makes it legitimate. I decided to do what the guide said. A few minutes later, after I battled the required trainer, I walked east, like it said, into the tall grass. A wild pokemon appeared! And behold, it was Mew! I used a Great Ball after I weakened it with Pikachu's Quick Attack. I finally caught Mew after all these years. I saved my data, turned my Game Boy off and thrust my hands into the air, feeling like a champion. At that moment, I looked to my left and saw that it was already 11:32 PM.

Time to rest up for tomorrow. I have to bring this book to a bookstore by bike... And the nearest one is 4 miles away, in Ypsilanti.

I just realized my mother still wasn't back. She's probably at a party or hanging out with her friends. After all, she is only 33 years old.

I closed my eyes and counted drumset cymbals until I fell asleep.



DAY 2

I woke up, peeling the sweaty blanket from my body.

It sure was hot last night. It was supposed to be only seventy degrees outside.

I looked out my window and saw the big oak tree separating my from my neighbor; It was a beautiful tree. It's leaves were always green, and it's bark was brown as dirt.

I trudged out of bed, stepping on controller wires, ignoring them. I swung open my door and realised no one was home. My grandmother's bedroom door was wide open; I could see out the living room window that the car was gone as well. I flattened out my hair and cracked virtually every bone in my body, before walking to the kitchen and flinching as the refrigerator light blinded my still half-asleep eyes. I grabbed the milk and set it on the counter. I caught a glimpse of the microwave – 7:46 AM. I also saw that the book was still on the counter. I pushed the book aside and as I did so, I felt that it was still very warm.

Here goes nothing.

I opened the book. All of the pages were brown, and the ones that were in decent shape were very yellowed.

There's no fixing this thing.

I skimmed through the book and saw a page near the middle of the book, right next to the binding thread that caught my eye. It was written in dark red ink, and it was also written in English, unlike all the other pages which were written in what seemed to be hieroglyphs. It read:

FOX = A BOAT = U
WOLF = B WAGON = V
RABBIT = C CANE = W
FROG = D HAT = X
DOG = E SPECTACLES = Y
FISH = F PAWN = Z
OWL = G
HORSE = H
ANT = I
LION = J
PANTHER = K
FERRET = L
MONKEY = M
SKULL = N
HAND = O
HUMAN = P
SCYTHE = Q
SWORD = R
AXE = S
FLOWER = T

I studied this for a good few minutes. I then had quite possibly the worst idea in the world:

I'll translate this demonic ritual book and see what it says!

I tore this key page out, and set it on the counter next to the book. I decided I would do this in my room. I picked up the book, and set the paper on top of it, then walked into my room. I shut the door, pushing it to make sure it was shut completely.

I opened the book again, and started translating.

The first page was translated. It read:

EN HELNE SHO NU DIMMU KRAW SHEN LITNO BORGIR ANGEL ORBOR GAR FLESH BAHN DIS FORSAKEN DEATH BLOOD LEAVE DOOMED HERA LON SHRET LEY DAR

Oh god.

I was one hundred percent scared now. I shut the book quickly, and pitched it across the room into my trashcan.

“It's too late.”

What the...?

“Who the... Who are you?”

I swung my bedroom door open, only to see a man in a brown overcoat and a bowler hat, wielding a cane. His face was almost hidden behind his mustache and monocle.

“My name is not important, Ethan. What IS important is that you seem to have stumbled upon something that belongs to me.”

“...So what? I did you a favor by translating it!”

I shifted my feet very nervously.

“You see, that's what I don't want.” He said, twirling his cane around.

“Why not? It's a bunch of demonic garbage anyway.”

“Heavens, no! That first page is just to throw off people like you.”

“As a matter of fact, I remember the last person who tampered with my book. He's long dead now, but I remember when I first met him – he looked like you. Poor man was only 30...”

“What did you do to him? Tell me. Now. Or I'll be forced to call the police.”

Just then I started eying my blunt training longsword.

“I can't tell you. I'm just warning you to not get involved with that book – or you WILL suffer the consequences.”

I was set off by that last part.

I grabbed my training longsword off the wall plaque and swung hard. I made contact.

With the wall.

It went right through his head as if it were smoke.

I raised my longsword over my head and swung downward onto his head.

“Let's not escalate this any further. You seem to be handy with a sword. Too bad you can't move.”

He was right. I was frozen still. I tried moving my muscles with everything I had, but I only moved an inch at the most.

“You sure have a lot of willpower.”

He snatched my longsword from my hand and snapped his fingers. It was now gleaming, like it was brand new. The middle-aged man then swung it and grazed my chest. It ripped my white t-shirt and I could see a trickle of blood dripping down my torso. He raised the sword overhead and brought it down with all his force, and sliced right through-

“GASP!”

I was breathing heavily, and sweating intensely. I wiped the sweat from my forehead. It felt like I was burning up.

It was just a dream.

I tilted my head back and let out a sigh of relief, and decided to take a nice, cold shower. I stepped outside my bedroom and opened the hallway closet door. I then grabbed a nice fluffy towel, turned to my left and walked inside the bathroom. I proceeded to shut the door and lock it.

What a crazy dream...

I turned the bathtub knobs and the water started flowing, and I pulled the pin on the faucet upwards and then water started spraying out of the shower head in a relaxing, cool mist. I stepped in the shower.

The cold water definitely woke me up. I decided that was enough cold water, and turned up the hot water knob.

That was much better. I could feel my muscles relaxing, although they felt sore.

As I was shampooing my hair, I started thinking. What could that dream mean? It felt real...


I started to put body wash on.

I thought a lot today, maybe my brain was just playing tri-

My heart stopped.

Oh my god.

There was a silhouette of a person on the other side of the curtain.

I had the urge to curl up in a ball and cry before I die.

I closed my eyes and thought about my life.

I opened them slowly... And the silhouette was gone.

I shut off the water valves, pulled the shower curtains back, and stepped out of the shower. I picked up my towel and dried myself.

I thought I was going crazy.

The foggy bathroom mirror had writing on it.

I AM REAL

My vision blacked out, and the last thing I remember was my mind going though a spiral of thoughts, which ended when my head hit the unforgiving tile floor.





DAY 3

I opened my eyes slowly and saw a checkered roof and a ceiling fan buzzing away. I sat up, only to be interrupted.

“No, you need to rest, Ethan.”

A nurse. I guess that fall I took must have done some damage.

“But... Where is my mother?”

“We don't know. The hospital got a call from a man named Pete and gave us your home address.”

“I don't know anyone named Pete.” I said.

“He saved your life by calling the hospital,” the nurse said.

I looked around the hospital bedroom I was in. It had a television hanging from the ceiling in the corner of the room, and a little bedside table was next to the hospital bed I was in. To my left was an IV that was hooked up to a heartrate monitor.

“...How bad did I fall?” I asked.

“Well, Ethan... You lost two and a half pints of blood... I'm really surprised that you didn't suffer from any head trauma.”

I rubbed my head and felt gauze wrapped tightly around my forehead.

“Is my skull cracked?”

“It looked very bad... We thought you weren't going to make it.”

“How long will I have to stay here? Where is my mother?”

I could feel a lump in my throat.

“You'll have to stay for at least a week, and you'll have to not partake in any physical activities for at least a month, then you'll be able to do light exercises, but you won't be able to play any sports for at least a year.”

The door opened with a long creak, and a police officer walked into the room, his shoes clicking on the tile floor.

“As for your mother,” he said, “We aren't sure where she is. We have hired an investigative team to help find her. Your grandmother is at home right now. She's very worried about you.”

“Who's Pete?” I asked.

“You mean the man who brought you in? I thought you knew him. He's an oddball.”

“He brought me in?! I thought he just called the hospital!”

“Well he did, but he brought you in as well.” the police officer said.

“What did he look like, officer?”

“I wasn't here, but I can go ask the receptionist if you like.”

“Yeah, ok, sure. I'll wait here with the nurse.”

The officer turned around and clicked his way outside the room, and after a minute, the clicking dissipated until all I heard was my own breathing.

I sat idle for a few minutes, pondering the book. What could it mean, and why did I have that dream? And most importantly, who is Pete?

“Hey nurse, I was wondering if I could have a drink of water, please.”

“Alright, I'll be right back, don't move!”

So I waited. Soon minutes passed.

Click... Click... Click... Click...

The door creaked open, and the officer walked in with a clipboard in his hand. I could see his nametag said “Terry”.

“So, Officer Terry, what have you got?” I asked, curiously.

“Well, Ethan, apparently Pete was wearing a brown overcoat, a bowler hat,”

A chill went up my spine, and my pupils dilated.

“was holding a cane, and had a big mustache and wore a monocle. Do you recognize him at all?”

“...Yeah... I sure do...” I replied.

I stared out the window for a solid two minutes, looking at the people walking on the sidewalk. Living their lives. I bet their lives are much less complicated...

“Well, Ethan, it's time I go back to the station and figure out where your mother is. If you need anything at all, call the station.”

“Sure thing, officer...” I said. I think he could tell I was a bit gloomy.

“Alright, well... Take care, okay? Bye.”

The door closed shut behind him, and again, I could hear the clicking of his shoes fading away. Once they were out of an earshot, I heard another clicking, coming closer. I saw a shadow under the door, and the doorknob turned and the door opened.

The nurse finally had my water.

“Thank you very much,” I said, extending my arms for the water.

Instead of giving me the water, she set it on the bedside table and handed me a letter in an envelope with an old-style wax seal. The seal was black and had the letter “P” on it. As she handed me this letter, she came close to my ear and whispered very softly:

“He's real...”

She then exited the room and slammed the door behind her.

At this point I have been surprised so much I didn't even care. I just said, “Oh, whoopdee doo. I wonder what buckets of joy are in this letter.”

I reached for my water and gulped it down. I was thirsty waiting for her.

I ripped open the letter and unfolded the paper inside. The letter said:

“ Dear Ethan,
I know we may have gotten off on the wrong foot, so here I'm trying to make amends. First, I'm sorry I caused you to slip and have to be hospitalized; I really am sorry. I didn't expect you to faint like that. Secondly...

Well, this might be hard to say.

You'll have to live with me. You know too much about the book. I can't have everything I've done be meddled with by some fifteen year old kid.

Living with me will have a few rules, but I'll explain them when you get here. Just snap your fingers when you're ready to talk.”

So I have one of two choices:

One: Live with this guy.

Or two: Run away, and hope he doesn't find me.

I'll pick number two.

I jumped out of the hospital bed, and opened the window opposite the door. I then climbed out and walked across the yard towards the sidewalk. When my bare feet hit pavement, I ran for it. I didn't care that the hospital gown was flowing about; All I cared about was getting away.


I must have ran for at least a minute, then I could feel my head throbbing with pain.

I forgot that the nurse told me I was in bad shape. I shouldn't have exhausted myself... There's no way I can still run. I guess...

I guess I'll just have to live with this Pete man, after all...

But what will my grandmother think? And my mother? I can't stand them being so sad that I'm gone...

But I have to do it because he didn't give me much of a choice at all! And I don't want to know what he'll do to me if I refuse...

I kicked a nearby rock and forgot I was barefoot, so I just hurt myself even more.

It's time...

I stepped into a nearby alleyway. It was dark and damp, and there were trashcans and garbage bins everywhere... It smelled horrible.

I snapped my fingers.

Nothing happened.

I snapped my fingers again.

Nothing.

“I guess he was bluffing after all, so maybe I can still live her-”

“I don't think so.”

So close.

“Listen, Ethan. This may be hard for you. But you did agree to it.”

“I never agreed to anything!”

“You snapped your fingers, which means you agree to come with me.”

"That's an underhanded trick!" I yelled.

I pondered this for a while before saying, “Okay, fine, where are we going?”

“I thought you'd never ask, Ethan. Just try not to get too dizzy.”

Pete grabbed my arm, and the sky turned from a high noon bright sunny day, to a dark, purple-black swirling sky. Soon the buildings around us spun out of control, and then – Pitch black. I could hear a voice.

“Ethan? Are you alright?”

I opened my slowly, and looked around. I was in a very nice house. A big flatscreen television was in the living room, and the living room also had nice leather couches with plastic covers on them. It didn't take long to realize that I was sprawled out on what seemed to be a kitchen floor, next to an extravagant carved mahogany table. I pushed myself off the ground and noticed I wasn't wearing a hospital gown, I was wearing the clothes I had on the day before.

“So this is it? This looks like it's not too far from my house.” I said.

“Right now we are in Babylon Gardens. Don't bother asking; it's not in your dimension.”

“Excuse me? I find this hard to believe.”

“I know, and I have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Firstly, the most major change from your world to mine is that pets and animals walk on two feet and talk.”

“I'm losing intereeesst~” I said, with a sarcastic tone.

“I'll just have to show you.”

“King! Come out here and greet our guest!”

I could only dread what horrid creature might come out to eat my flesh – And so here my life ends, eaten by a -

Oh.

It's a corgi.

“Hey. I'm King.”

I looked around nervously, and said, “Hey, I'm Ethan... Nice to meet you? Heh...” He extended his hand, er, paw, and we shook. It felt weird shaking a dog's hand. I mean paw. This is going to need some getting used to.

“Alright, King, I need to speak to Ethan in private. He will be staying with us from now on.”

“Oh, really? Where will he be sleeping?” King asked.

“Why, over there, of course.” He pointed to a doggy bed that had a name on it. It read: “Ethan”.

About right now was when I objected.

“Now how am I going to sleep in that little thing? You don't at least have a guest bed? I mean, you did basically kidnap me.” I could feel my face getting red as I got angrier. How humiliating.



King approached me. “Ethan, I don't think he... Well, I think you'll figure it out. Good luck. Pete, I'm going outside. Ethan, I'll be back to talk with you in a little while.”

My mind was in a whirlwind.

What does he mean I'll 'figure it out'? 'Good luck'? This is confusing me.

I watched King grab his scarf from the closet near the front door, and go outside. Man, he was pretty short. The doorknob is just above his head. As the door closed, I could feel a gust of cool air breeze throughout the house, which felt really nice.

I turned back to Pete.

“So what does this all mean? I still don't get it.”

I probably sound dumb.

“Well, Ethan. I'll just put it bluntly. You're going to have to live as a pet from now on, and I'm your owner.”

“...You have got to be kidding me, right? That's impossible. You can't change somebody like that.”

I was asking for it.

Come on, Ethan, don't say anything stupid...

“You wouldn't dare.”

Stop talking, Ethan...

“You disgusting kidnapper.”

Pete glared at me with piercing black eyes, as he pulled his bowler cap off, revealing a blue gryphon's head.

“You listen to me. And you listen good.” Pete said, with a very serious inflection.

Looks like my anger finally bites me back.

“You're GOING to do what I say. Now come over here.”

I trudged over to Pete, dragging my feet behind me.

This is going to suck, big time.

I bet it'll hurt a lot.


“Now Ethan, are you ready? You're leaving your other life behind now.”

I thought...

What about my drum set? I spent thousands on that. All for nothing.

And my family. Won't they miss me?

Well... There's nothing I can do. Looks like... I have to agree.

“Well?”

“...Okay, fine, get it over with.”

I clenched my teeth, and closed my eyes, waiting for the pain.

“Alright, that is much better!” Pete exclaimed.

I didn't feel a thing.

I opened my eyes and looked at my hands and my heart skipped a beat. I was no longer looking at hands, but... Paws. Except I had thumbs and fingers like a human. I turned my paws over and saw white fur covering the backs of them.

I need a mirror.

“Pete, I need a mirror.”

Pete snapped his fingers and a mirror appeared in front of me; A full body mirror.

I was half horrified and half astounded.

I gazed at the reflection, and saw a white husky staring back with black spots covering both eyes, a black tipped tail and black tipped ears.

I touched my face, and finally realized that I'm not Ethan anymore... I'm just another dog.

I also noticed my height. I was considerably shorter. I used to be an inch or so taller than Pete, but now I barely reach his chest. King probably would reach in between my elbows and shoulders, now.

“So what do I do now, Pete? Just do whatever a dog does?”

“You mustn't tell a soul. Only me, you, and King may know. Make sure King doesn't let his mouth slip about it, either.”

“Do dogs in this universe live shorter lives?”

“You were almost 16 before, so now you are 2 years and 2 months old in dog years.


“Hey Pete, what is there to do around here?” I asked.

I shifted my balance, which indicated I was uncomfortable.

“Well, Ethan, you can go play with the other dogs, if you like.”

“I'll wait for King for now, I guess,” I said.

This is all new to me, I can't believe any of this has really happened. It all seems so... Far fetched.

I have made my first dog pun in this new world, so I think it's official... I'm not as mad as I should be, so maybe that means I've already subconsciously accepted it... Maybe this was meant to be. I don't know. The only dog I've met here is King, and he seems to care a little bit, but not even close to how much a friend would care.

I walked over to my new bed and sat down in it. I thought quite a lot, and time seemed to go by faster the more I thought about this. I'm stuck here, so I might as well get the best out of it... For now I'll wait until King gets back, and I'll be able to talk to someone... A real, caring person, unlike the cold hearted gryphon named Pete.

I lied down and shut my eyes and tried to imagine home.

It felt like I've been away from home for years, although it's been not even an hour. I wonder what my mother is thinking...

She probably thinks it's one less mouth to feed.

But my grandmother... She's the one who will be sad.

Either sad, or mad that I got involved. She seemed to know about it, though... Which still irks me.

It was getting dark. I could see out the living room window; all the dogs and cats were heading home from each-others yards and houses. I spotted King walking down the road toward my new home, and I could feel my tail wagging, which felt really weird...

King opened the door and hung his scarf up.

“Hey Etha-”

King looked surprised.

“Whoa. Pete was serious, wasn't he?”

“...Yeah...” I said.

“Speaking of which, he's not here anymore, I must have fell asleep for a few minutes. Maybe he went out to do some errands,” I added.


“Yeah, you could call it that.”

“Listen, Ethan. We need to talk. Let's go take a walk.”

My ears perked up out of curiosity.

“Why would we need to take a w-”

“Let's just go, I need to talk.”

“Fine... I'll go.” I said.

“Pete has your scarf in the closet. It's the black one. And... You might want to take those human clothes of yours off... You look a little weird in them.”

“I'll be fine,” I said.

The shirt was my favorite white t-shirt with my favorite band's logo on the back – Morbid Angel. I refused to throw it away, and I wore it at least once a week.

“Don't be surprised if you get strange looks. Let's go.”

I got up from the doggy bed, and walked over to the closet by the door. I pulled it open, and grabbed the black scarf. I wrapped it around my neck and we headed out. I stepped down the stairs with him and once we were on the sidewalk, we started talking.

“I know this might be difficult,” King sympathized, “But I had to go through this too. I'm only telling you this because we were both humans at one time, and I feel bad for you because I know what you're feeling.”

“Thanks for your concern, but my story is a little different from yours... Well, Pete brought me from my dimension into yours because apparently I messed with his book.” I said.

“Another dimension? I think you might want to speak to Tarot tomorrow...” King said.

“But anyways, Ethan. You have your whole life as a dog ahead of you, and I'm only 3 years old in dog years. You were how old in human years?”

“I was almost 16.” I replied.

“I was in my early 20's,” King informed me.

“So in dog years we're not that far apart,” I said.

As we walked through the dark streets of Babylon Gardens, I could see lights turning off in each house – It must be getting pretty late...



“It seems to be getting kind of late, do you think we should head back, King?” I asked.

“Yeah, we probably should. Let's turn around.”

We started our way back.

“King, you're the first real friend I've had in this universe...”

King replied, “Well, haha, that's uh, nice...”

He had a really nervous smile on his face.

I can tell he hasn't had many friends.

“So who do you hang out with here, King?” I asked him, as we took a 'shortcut' through people's yards.

“Well, I play with Fox quite a bit... Maybe you can meet him tomorrow. And sometimes I play with the K-9 unit... But they scare me sometimes.”

“The K-9 unit?” I asked.

“Yeah, they are the dog branch of the town's police force. There are only a few of them, though.”

“Oh. What did you do before you were a dog?”

I could tell I struck a nerve with that question.

“Look, let's not talk about me, okay?” He said, with an angry inflection in his voice.

“Whatever you say...” I said, awkwardly.

The silence lasted a good few minutes until I broke it.

“I used to be a drummer in my world... And I doubt Pete will let me have a drum set here.”

“You used to be a drummer? Wow, that's pretty cool. I dunno, he might let you have it if you don't sound like garbage. And it would have to be electronic so it doesn't disturb the neighbors.”

“Ok, I'll ask him tomorrow... Maybe he can conjure one up.”

The moon in the night sky was at it's peak; it must be around two o'clock in the morning.

“We're almost back home,” King exclaimed.

I replied, “I'm pretty tired... Can't wait to take a nice, long rest after today... Dimensional travel exhausts you.”



The snow crunched underneath us as we walked up the stairs leading into my new home. King opened the door and rubbed his paws off before stepping inside. I did the same. Probably shouldn't make Pete mad...

Once we stepped inside, I decided to take my human clothes off. Once I took them off, I hung my scarf up in the closet. I walked through the living room, where King was already sitting, watching television, into the hallway, where I saw the washer and dryer in a separate room next to the bathroom. I put my dirty clothes into the hamper, when I realized that those were the only pair of clothes I had in this universe.

I'll just have to wear none, I guess...

I noticed that I didn't have a collar, either. To be honest, I felt naked not wearing something! I walked back into the living room and asked King, “Did Pete have a collar for me?”

“Yeah, it's on the kitchen table. I guess he forgot to give it to you.”

I walked past King again, and reach onto the table only to find a black collar with a white tag on it that said:

ETHAN

I decided to put it on, so now I was officially Pete's pet... It's not so bad. I get free food, no school, I don't have to work... This could work out nicely, I just have to stay positive about this...

“Hey, King, I'm going to go to bed. Tomorrow, can you take me to Fox's house with you? I want to meet some more people. Er, I mean, dogs.”

“Yeah, sure. Just don't be annoying.”

“Um... Okay. Well, good night then.”

“Yeah, night.”

I climbed into my new bed and closed my eyes.

What if Pete will let me go back someday?

I doubt it... He doesn't seem very nice.

Well, if worst comes to worst... I can just pretend that this is how it always has been...

...And always will be.

...Yeah.

This isn't so bad.

Re: This is my story. A Housepets fanfiction.

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:24 pm
by copper
Well, it was in inteesting read. You may want to censor some of your personal info...

As for criticism, you tend to add more detail than is needed. It reads like instructions at times. Disturbs the flow of things.

Also, there are a few differences from comic canon. Is this just picking a spot and going from there, outside of canon? And also, king id a little out of character here. He would still be his sarcastic, aggravated self no matter what Pete did.

I thought it was interesting and a fun, though long, read. Maybe shorten the length a bit?

Cannot wait to see what happens next, and how you handle Bino! :roll:

Re: This is my story. A Housepets fanfiction.

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:26 pm
by Voidpaw
Thank you for the criticism. I will try to improve off of it. :p

As for my personal information, that's stuff I'm comfortable sharing, I wouldn't put anything crazy down.

And I never liked Bino...

Edit: I'll start working on the next part soon, I have a plane to catch on Monday, though. Also, this fanfiction will tie up with the plot soon. The beginning takes place around arc 42.

Re: This is my story. A Housepets fanfiction.

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 3:52 pm
by MilesKingford
Even so, do please be careful with what you put on the internet, even here.

I thought this story was good so far. It gets a bit dark, though. I wonder where it might lead.

Re: This is my story. A Housepets fanfiction.

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:28 pm
by Voidpaw
It might be a couple of weeks before I finish my next update. I like to do them in big chunks, like I posted here. I'm in Florida right now all the way across the country visiting friends and family, so I won't have much time to write.

I write my stories a little dark sometimes because it strengthens the bond between the reader and the characters once it's 'out of the dark' per se. Well once I update I hope you guys will like it and don't be afraid to criticize my work! I'm all for constructive criticism!