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It was a bright and cheery day in the world of Welcome Home, Eddie running his usual rounds delivering mail to the houses, Barnaby practising his tricks as Wally painted from a hill nearby, and everyone seemed as chipper and upbeat as usual. Howdy Pillar stood contently behind the register in his shop, his usual wide smile adorning his face as he used his many arms and hands to scan people's items and package them in the brown paper bags by the register, wishing everyone a good day as they left with a smile almost as wide as his, he truly did love his job.
The bell above the door jingled joyfully as it marked the arrival of another customer, in his usual kind and happy tone Howdy greeted them as he would greet any other, “Howdy neighbour! What can I get for you? Today everything is 100% off!” It always was, Howdy never charged the neighbours of Welcome Home for his goods and he always liked to joke about the drastically lowered prices to hopefully make someone laugh and make their day a little brighter.
The girl with split dyed hair, which Howdy had to admit was positively adorable, walked up to his counter with a smile, “Hi Howdy! I have a question” The man listened to her words and nodded along, clasping one pair of hands in front of him, leaning them on the register “Yes? What’s your question?” The girl kept her smile as her own hands remained clasped behind her back, “Do you like bread?” her question seemed innocent enough, his smile widening further, if it even could, as he answered with a simple “I love the stuff! I love sandwiches, particularly peanut butter and jelly, what about you?”
The girl's face seemed to drop the smile it had held up until now as she responded with a curt “I don’t like sandwiches.” Howdy was nothing by a curious CAT-erpillar, so he tilted his head slightly, smile remaining, but you know what they say about curiosity and cats, “Why ever not, neighbour? I personally think they’re the best invention since the wheel, which, I guess that the wheel would have to come first… I don’t know, you understand what I’m getting at!” he shrugged lightly and chuckled softly to himself at his own goofy nature.
“Why ever not what?” came the girl's response, Howdy assumed the girl may of just not heard him correctly or possibly somewhere in his rambling about wheels his question had been lost so he decided to clarify for her, “Why ever not like sandwiches? Is it a taste thing? Or a texture thing, perhaps? I promise I won’t judge you neighbour, it wouldn’t be right of me. I’ve got an iron gut, as they say, so I don’t really understand what most people like or dislike in terms of food, if it’s healthy and it doesn’t make me throw up, I’ll eat it!” he said with a smile once more, hoping this clarified what he meant with his query.
“I never said I don’t like sandwiches.” another response, her voice now monotone as she stared at the man, he raised an eyebrow, confusion evident on his face “Oh? Then perhaps I misunderstood! Would you care to elaborate on what you actually meant? If it’s not too much of an inconvenience of course,” he said as his face resumed it’s usual grin and charm, “Elaborate on what?” the confusion returned to Howdy’s face as he watched her for a moment, “You said that you didn’t like sandwiches, I don’t mean to pry or anything so if you don’t feel like clarifying you don’t have to, I’m just not sure what you meant is all…” he shrugs apologetically, a sheepish look in his eyes, muttering self-consciously, “I’m sorry if this is too invasive a question.”
“I never said I don’t like sandwiches.” Howdy’s face twisted into a look of confusion once again, his eyes narrowing at her words trying to understand if he heard her correctly, suspicious as to her intent with this conversation, he inhaled sharply, “Are you…gaslighting me?” His tone had lowered some octaves and had grown more serious, it was a pretty wacky accusation but it seemed fitting for what was going on here, his clasped hands moving down to fold over his chest as he kept his eyes trained on her, “What? No, why would I gaslight you? You’re acting crazy over this whole sandwich thing for no reason.”
Howdy’s eyes snapped open in sheer shock at what she had said, fumbling over his words to try and get a coherent sentence out, “I’m crazy? Are you serious right now?!” His tone had shifted again, to one of disbelief that ended in what closely resembled a growl with the last question, standing up straight, towering above the girl his face heating up to a beet red, a contrast to his usual lime skin, antenna curling in anger, “How DARE you!” his voice was shaking from rage as he tried to keep his composure.
“Woah, calm down there big fella.” came her voice as she stared at him, seemingly unphased by his display, he glared down at her as his antenna uncurl and curl again as he takes heaving breaths in an attempt to steel himself, though his rage seemingly wins the fight as the fury in his eyes becomes more evident, every word is a guttural growl as it passes his lips, “DO NOT speak to me in that tone again.” Every muscle in his body fights him, resulting in his body quaking with rage.
Another growl leaves his throat though it sounds more like a hiss at this point, an attempt at threatening behaviour, “ANY tone that isn’t an apology! How DARE you imply that I am crazy.” By the end of his sentence, his tone is almost monstrous in nature, standing rigid and tense, his antenna stilling curling and uncurling in a feeble attempt to quell the anger surging through him, his heavy breathing still evident, a nerve has been struck and Howdy is fuming.
“Huh? I never said you were crazy.” Came her voice, faux innocence as it came to her turn to tilt her head in confusion as she watched him practically foam at the mouth in front of her, Howdy’s eye twitched as his breathing got more rapid, “Are you serious?!” He was yelling now, seething with anger as his hand grasped the edge of the register, nearly cracking the wood and bending the metal beneath it, veins in his biceps prominent and bulging with how hard he was attempting to keep himself together. “You have two options right now,” His tone seemed more numb than before, seemingly having calmed down enough to be coherent for a moment, “You can apologise to me right this instant or I can throw you out and ban you from my store for life.”
Howdy’s voice was still low but it was cold, the joy having been overcome by his rage, yet now in its place nothing stood but a numb unwavering carelessness, “Why are you threatening me? I literally just came here to buy a sandwich.” With the same tone as before Howdy sighed, his eyelids dropping to half-lidded as his hands removed themselves from the register, leaving indents behind as they once again folded over his chest. “You tried to gaslight me. Don’t think I didn’t notice, I don’t let things like that slide, Nobody makes a fool out of Howdy Pillar and gets away with it, is that understood?”
Seemingly out of nowhere, the girl's hand reaches out to grab a fistful of Howdy’s apron, before he even has time to react he is dragged down to her level as she places a quick peck on his lips, the man mumbles a desperate “What? No!” as his cold stare returns to the confused and bewildered one from before as he tries desperately to be free of her grasp to no avail, “Let go of me! What was that for?!” He finally managed to free himself and back up away from his register and her, “What was what for?” she responds as Howdy takes a moment to collect himself, like a deer in headlights, panting softly, “You know
exactly
what for! You just pulled me in for a kiss! Which I didn’t want! Why the hell did you do that?!” he babbles as his hands move to fix his crumpled apron.
“What? No, I didn’t, don’t be a creep Howdy.” the rage returns to Howdy as he is in an utter state of disbelief at the interaction he’s having right now, “How the hell am I being a creep?! You were the one who did it, not me!” he threw his hands up in the air to symbolise his lack of involvement in the matter, “I didn’t do anything! I just wanted to buy a sandwich!” she yells back at him this time, feint disgust on her features as she crosses her arms over her chest.
At this point Howdy is dumbfounded and at a loss for words, he spends a moment just staring down at her incredulously, stumbling over his words, mouth moving like a goldfish, his stature begins to mimic that of a child in distress as he fails to find the words he wishes to say, “B-B-But…” a single tear slides down his cheek as his lip quivers slightly, he has so many emotions right now that he doesn’t know how to properly convey or explain.
“I just wanted to buy a sandwich, Barnaby said I could get one here, that’s all. Now here you are, yelling at me, trying to kiss me then GASLIGHTING ME?!” her face twisted into a more disgusted look as she backed up two paces, Howdy’s face falls as more tears slip down his face to join the first, his antenna drooping as he shakes his head sadly and closes his eyes, “I-” his voice is barely above a whisper at this point, the man is distraught and defeated and it shows in how his body slumps to match his antenna. Looking back at her he shakes his head again and hiccups softly, “Why?” he chokes out weakly.
“Why what?” comes her reply as she watches this broken shell of a man where the proud Howdy Pillar once stood, holding back the sobs that threatened to wrack his whole body, “Why do this to me?” there is a whole cocktail of emotions in this man's eyes, fear, anger, sadness, confusion, he has never been seen in this state before, no one has seen him anything other than happy, all the time, he’d been nothing but kind and gracious to her when she entered his store but this was the state she had forced him into with her words, broken, “Why hurt my feelings?”
“I didn’t do anything! I just walked in and you started crying!” she snaps at him, her look of disgust now one of annoyance, as if this man’s beaten down husk inconvenienced her in some way, he stared at her blankly for a moment, “You…You…” he could barely form a sentence, his tone was anguished, a wave of misery coming over his face as he holds back more tears, devastated beyond compare. “I just got here Howdy, What’s going on with you?” Her tone had once again shifted, now to a softer tone, her face changing to a look of concern as she moved towards the register.
Howdy doesn’t respond right away he just stares in disbelief before looking towards the floor to calm himself as he sniffles quietly, once he is calm enough to speak somewhat he looks back at her, wiping his tears off his face, “Oh, God, please stop lying to me…” he whispers as his eyes are pleading for mercy, “I’m not lying!” she yells once again, his face remains the same as more tears fall, he once again sniffles and wipes them away, her words have hit him hard and he is heartbroken that someone could do this to him. The girl frowns at the sight of Howdy as tears freefall down his cheeks, hitting the floor with the quietest sound, “Would you like a hug?” her tone is softer now, as she watches him, her offer seems nice to Howdy and despite what she put him through he slowly nods as another wave of sadness washes over him, “Thank you…” he takes a deep breath and tries to smile through his sadness but it twitches, his face rejecting the idea of joy as he opens his arms ready to receive the hug.
But it doesn’t come, the girl stands there staring at him, making no move to hug him, he stands there, arms outstretched, and he waits, his gesture almost asking permission to hug her, but he says nothing, just waits, the want for a hug is evident on his face yet he seems reluctant to ask for it verbally, “What are you waiting for? What’s this?” she queries gesturing to his open arms, he’s a little baffled by the question but he intends to try and answer it, tilting his head to one side, “I thought you were going to hug me?” Howdy sounds confused, was this not what she offered? Or was this another trick up her sleeve, at the thought tears brim in his eyes once more, Howdy is at his limit and it shows.
The girl almost scoffs at the notion and folds her arms again, “Whatever gave you that crazy idea?”, with her words his confusion returns to sorrow and misery as he slumps to his knees, defeated, looking up at her, arms hanging loosely by his sides, utterly defeated, her words and games have crushed him like a child whose world just fell apart right before their eyes, he fails to contain the sobs that have been clawing at his chest and he cries, like the broken man he is.
“Bark for me” her voice demanded of him as he knelt there sobbing, he stares at her for a while before he does in fact bark, the sound sending him into a panic, it was beyond his control, unsure of where that came from, he clutches his throat and stares at her, “Bark for me, silly Pillar man.” she snaps at him once again, this time the barks come quicker than before, he begins to shake with fear “Why do you want me to do this?” Howdy’s eyes fill with terror and confusion as he holds his throat, “Dogs don’t speak do they?” Howdy gulps dryly at the question before shaking his head “N-No they do not, they usually just…bark at people, why?”
Howdy is no longer kneeling, the shock of his subconscious obeying this girl's command had sent him back onto his behind as he backed up against the wall behind the register, watching as she moved around behind it to be stood next to him, “So…the only noises I want to hear coming from your mouth are barks and howls, anything else and I’ll muzzle your trap shut, do you understand me, pet?” All the man can do is nod as another involuntary bark leaves his mouth, at this point he has decided it would be best for him to just comply with what she asks of him, he has gone through so much that not even his free will is strong enough.
“That’s a good boy, who’s my good boy?” she coos as she smiles and watches him, her hands now placed on her hips, he forces a smile onto his face as he barks once again, determined to play house as her ‘good boy’, for now, she calls him over to her and he gets up, walking over to her but she stops him with an “Ah!” Howdy freezes immediately, worried he may have upset her and fearing what repercussions may follow, “Do dogs walk on two legs?” she asks, raising a singular finger and pointing it at him, a stern look on her features, Howdy simply shakes his head, gulping again “Then show me, if you want me to praise you, show me what a good boy you are, now, go back over there and let’s try that again.” she commands, and he does, he walks back to where he was and reluctantly kneels before getting on all fours and crawling over to her, barking softly and dejectedly, it seems to appease her as she pets his head and ruffles his hair gently with a smile, “such a good boy.”
Howdy musters up a smile as she pets him and praises him, barking softly in response to it, “Oh what a good puppy huh? You like being my puppy?” she asks in a tone you would use towards a small animal, he nods his head, trying to seem emphatic about the whole ordeal but no greater shame has Howdy felt than the shame he feels in this moment, barking once more to appease this girl, “My my, why don’t we show off how obedient you are?” the man wasn’t sure what she meant by that but knew that it in some way risked his dearest friends and neighbours seeing him like this, at the beck and call of this girl out of fear, him, the once strong Howdy Pillar, reduced to a mutt.
He barks enthusiastically at the idea so as not to encroach her wrath at his disobedience, the girl walks off and then promptly returns with a blue dog collar and leash set and Howdy’s heart sinks to his gut, ripping open the packaging she hums as she crouches in front of him, attaching the collar and leash around his entirely too big neck, his eyes widened as the collar begins to choke him slightly, he tries in vain to get some breaths in but soon enough he’s being dragged out the store behind her, still on all fours, out into the sunlight and view of the townsfolk.
Each person they pass gives Howdy and the girl a look of confusion and shock as she walks the man behind her like a dog, calling this feeling embarrassment seems like the understatement of the year for Howdy, he feels awkward, humiliated and confused yet he continues to crawl on all fours behind her, the stony path cutting his hands and knees as he does, but he tries his best not to yelp in pain as more tear form in his eyes. “How do you feel, all of your neighbours knowing you’re a stupid little mutt?” Howdy can’t even verbalise his shame even if he could talk without her yelling that dogs don’t talk again, so he just hangs his head and whimpers softly, avoiding eye contact, he can hear the snickering of some residents trying to hold in their laughter.
“You don’t like being my dog? Fine.” the man looks up at her as she reaches down and removes the collar and he inhales deeply, thankful for the full lungs of air, what was essentially five minutes felt like hours of drowning with minimal air pockets to take a breath in, the girl took the leash and collar and threw it as hard as she could into the woods, a smile flickered at the corner of Howdy’s lips, hoping that she was bored now and that he was free from this to go home, process the day and most likely cry himself to sleep and never leave his house again out of shame.
“Offf you go then, since you’re embarrassed, go on.” she snapped at him, at first he was confused about what she wanted him to do, go home? Go back to the store? Then it clicked, he turned to look at the woods and then back at her, waiting for him to do something, he exhaled and, still crawling on all fours, made his way into the woods after the collar and leash, to hide in the bushes, planning to wait until she left Welcome Home before he made his dash home, though this was not to be the case.
Years passed and any time Howdy would peak through the bushes to check if the coast was clear she would be there, chatting with the neighbours or playing with his friends, he soon realised she was never going to leave, so, Howdy abandoned his life in Welcome Home and begun to rebuild in the woods, he was alone, cold and scared most nights but he got used to it, his usually tame hair has grown long and matted, full of leaves and twigs, he has even grown a beard. Howdy’s isolation fried his brain until he was no longer the Howdy anyone remembered, the neighbours had tried in vain to intervene, to bring him home but he bit, hissed and scratched at anyone who came near him, so they left him alone after a while, and Howdy eventually became one with the woods and lived there for the rest of his days.