The Hound
Every Christmas in the Roberts household little Emily would write her letter to Santa asking for all manner of gifts. Her father, James, would then take her to the red postbox at the end of the street to post it to the North Pole. Once she could walk properly he’d happily watch her skip down the road a few feet in front of him, growing a little taller each year. He’d then lift her up so she could reach the opening of the postbox and in the letter went, flying directly to Santa’s grotto (or so she believed in her childhood innocence).
One year however, like many other children, Emily asked Santa for a puppy. James and Emily’s mother, Andrea, knew that this wasn’t going to be possible. They both had full time jobs and Emily was going to start school soon so they would be too busy, plus they didn’t exactly have the space for a puppy in their two-bed terrace.
But Emily was adamant, in her letter she went into great detail about what she wanted the puppy to look like and even drew a picture of it. It was the only thing on her list that year and it broke her parents’ hearts knowing it was something they just couldn’t give her.
Emily posted her letter in the usual way, when he put her back down on the pavement she looked up at him with eyes full of hope. He stooped down and spoke in a gentle tone.
“Emily please don’t be disappointed if Santa can’t bring you a puppy, ok? There are some things that even he can’t do”.
“He will daddy! I know he will!” Emily said excitedly, clenching her small fists like she could barely contain herself.
“There’s no guarantee sweetheart but I’m sure he’ll try his best” James replied.
“He will! I got a good feeling daddy!”
James sighed, watching Emily skip back to their house.
“Oh god…” he thought, anticipating tears from his daughter on Christmas morning.
The big day soon came and James and Andrea watched Emily open her presents with delight.
“Thank you mummy! Thank you daddy!” she said, clutching each gift to her chest.
But even though she was pleased with her new toys they could see the disappointment in her eyes when she realised there was one present missing. She crawled under the Christmas tree searching, but there was no sign of a puppy anywhere. When she emerged she flopped on the floor with a soft thud, her bottom lip sticking out.
James scooted over to her, “I know you wanted a puppy sweetheart but Santa couldn’t get you one this year. I’m sorry”.
Emily didn’t say anything so Andrea joined them and wrapped her arm around the little girl.
“Maybe next year honey” she said, planting a kiss on the top of her head.
Emily sniffed and wiped a tear away, “was I bad?”
“No no sweetie you weren’t bad! You were such a good girl this year, you always are. It’s just-” James started but Andrea cut him off.
“There are just some things that Santa can’t put on the sleigh. I mean would you fancy travelling all over the world in one night at a million miles an hour? The poor pup would get travel sick!” she joked.
Emily giggled through her sniffles.
“Why don’t we make you some jam on toast and we can watch Mickey Mouse? Andrea suggested, “mummy will even let you stay in your Christmas pyjamas!”
Emily cheered, “ok mummy! Christmas plate too?”
“Of course sweetie” she agreed and Emily toddled off into the kitchen, Andrea chuckled at the speedy pitter-patter of her bare feet.
“Poor kid. She looked so disappointed. I feel awful” James said quietly.
“She’ll be alright. We’ll just give her anything she wants today to take her mind off it”.
“You’re right. We’ll spoil our little girl rotten. It is Christmas after all”.
“Exactly”.
“Merry Christmas my love” James said and shared a kiss with his beloved wife.
“Mummy! I can’t reach the jam!” Emily yelled from the kitchen.
“Ok sweetie, I’ll be there now!” Andrea replied.
Just then the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it, it’s probably Bob from next door with a fruit cake” James assumed as he got to his feet.
“Thanks darling” Andrea said, kissing her husband’s cheek then heading off to help little Emily.
James opened the front door but there was no one there. He shrugged and went to close the door, just as he did a loud yap startled him. He looked down and was flabbergasted by what he saw. There at his feet was a small scruffy looking black puppy with red eyes and red tips on the edges of its fur. Its teeth were slightly larger than a regular puppy’s and its tongue was also crimson red. This dog was not normal, it was frightening.
“What the f-?”
But before James could finish the puppy snarled at him and bared its fangs, the low growl had an undertone of something much much deeper. It was unlike anything he had ever heard before. As the pup attempted to pounce on him James quickly slammed and locked the door.
“Oh god oh god oh god oh god…”
The puppy was now barking on the other side of the door and clawing at the wood, Andrea came rushing into the hallway.
“What’s going on?!” she asked, seeing the fear in James’ eyes.
“There’s…a…p-u-p-p-y…out there” he stammered.
“Wait what?! How-? Who-?”
“I don’t know but it’s not normal, it’s got red eyes and big fangs! Like a little demon!”
“Oh don’t be ridiculous James!” Andrea scoffed as she reached for the doorknob.
“NO!” James batted her hand away.
“Mummy? Can I lick the jam off the spoon?” Emily asked as she tottered in from the kitchen, her cheek already smeared with jam.
BARK! BARK! BARK!
Emily gasped and dropped the sticky spoon, “PUPPEEEEE!!!”
“No! No! Andrea get her away!” James demanded.
Andrea picked up a wriggling Emily, “just open the damn door James”.
“No!”
“It’s probably just a crossbreed or a terrier” she told him.
“This is NO mongrel!” James exclaimed, “this is…this is…”
“PUPPEEEEEEEE!!”
“Oh for pity’s sake” Andrea handed Emily over to her father, “let me deal with this. I used to work at the kennel centre, remember?”
“That thing is WAY beyond a kennel!”
Andrea gingerly opened the door a crack and met the red eyes of the puppy still sitting on the welcome mat. She took in its features and was a little frightened by it herself, but she kept her cool and tried not to show her fear. The puppy tilted its head in curiosity at her calm demeanor.
“Hello pup” she said in a soft yet shaky voice.
The puppy’s tongue lolled out but with an expression that almost looked like it was smiling. She opened the door wider so she could kneel down and tentatively held her hand out. James’s heart skipped several beats as he watched, ready to pull Andrea away should the creature take a bite. But the puppy licked her palm with surprising gentleness. Its tongue was as hot as fire, a shock to Andrea’s system on this cold Christmas morning.
“Where did you come from?” she pondered aloud.
The puppy lifted its head and tucked in its collar was a small piece of paper. She took it out and unfolded it and read the words to herself.
“Oh my good lord…” she murmured, “James fetch me the copy of Emily’s letter please”.
James ran upstairs with Emily still in his arms to fetch the letter, every year they made a copy as a keepsake and a reference so they knew which presents to buy.
When he returned Andrea scanned the words on each piece of paper and her mouth fell open.
“Well you were right about this dog not being normal” she said, “it seems our girl needs to work on her spelling”.
“What do you mean?” James asked with a hint of trepidation.
Andrea began to read Emily’s letter aloud.
Dear Satan,
I have been SOOOO good this year and I wud REELY REELY like a puppy for Christmas. I want him to have fluffy black fur like Toto from Wizard of Oz and be SUPER cute and like to play! Thank you!
Lots of love,
Emily Roberts, aged 4¾
Andrea then read the reply from “Santa”, the note written in beautiful calligraphy.
Dear little Emily,
Thank you very much for your letter, I must admit I was a little surprised to receive it. I don’t usually celebrate Christmas however this year I have made an exception just for you. Please accept this darling puppy as my gift to you for being so well-behaved (but if you want to get up to some mischief next year then I will most certainly allow it). This pup will look after you, your mummy and your daddy just as his family have looked after others for generations.
Merry Christmas!
Satan
“Are you seriously telling me that that thing is a hellhound?!” James gasped.
“Santa got my letter yaaaaay!” Emily squealed, oblivious to the situation.
“This HAS to be a joke surely!”
“I…I don’t think it is. No one else has seen this letter apart from us” said Andrea.
“But…but…” James went through a hundred different explanations in his head but absolutely nothing made sense. Andrea chuckled as the dog sat patiently, scratching one of its floppy ears with its back leg then tumbling over from imbalance.
“What do we do?” James asked.
“Let me test something…”
Andrea opened the door fully and Emily let out a long gasp at this unusual, and oddly cute-looking, pup.
“PUPPEEEEEE!!”
“Put her down” Andrea told James.
“Are you insane?!” he protested.
“Just do it”.
James hesitantly put his daughter on the ground but stayed very close behind, ready to snatch her back up again.
Emily and the pup stepped towards each other cautiously then burst into a full on run, Emily held her arms open and the pup leapt into them. They nuzzled each other and it was the most adorable and strange sight.
“Mmm so warm!” Emily hummed then fell into a fit of giggles as the dog licked the jam from her cheek.
James and Andrea just looked at each other. Despite his sinister appearance the dog was now behaving like any normal pup and both parents felt a wave of relief wash over them.
“Looks like she got a puppy for Christmas after all” James resided.
“What do you want to call him sweetheart?” Andrea asked.
“Fluffy!” Emily cheered and Fluffy wagged his tail in approval.
That Christmas was one that the family would never forget. Emily played with Fluffy all day long; she modelled her new clothes for him, showed him every single one of her toys and even put a blue bow on his head (which he quickly shook off). James and Andrea kept a close eye on the two throughout the day, ready to intervene if things got out of hand. But Fluffy was surprisingly gentle and affectionate, especially to Emily and Andrea. James had to earn his trust given their rocky start, but once the dad had sneaked some turkey to him under the dinner table they became fast friends.
After a chaotic day of cooking, cleaning and chasing Fluffy around the garden to make sure he didn’t maul or set fire to anything, James and Andrea flopped onto the sofa. Emily and Fluffy were curled up cutely in front of the fire, snoring softly and cuddling each other. They looked utterly adorable and the parents smiled fondly.
“What a weird day” James said, shaking his head.
“I know right” Andrea agreed but James picked up on the worry in her voice.
“It’s gonna take some adjusting but we’ll work this out I promise. Besides I couldn’t bear to break them apart now”
He took his wife’s hand and gave it a light squeeze.
“Me neither. Plus I don’t think Satan accepts returns” she joked.
It was indeed a strange turn of events but they couldn’t deny that Emily and Fluffy were now inseparable.
