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Dusty
By Ahura


Like many towns on the prairie, Pecos wasn’t so different from all the rest. Surrounded by miles of flat dusty plains where the Sun scorched every drop of water. The only break the monotony of life in Pecos was the occasional dust storms and tumbleweeds blowing down through the center of towns. In every way Pecos was just as normal as every other town that dotted the landscape except for one thing. Pecos had a secret; the people whispered it in the hotels and cantinas. They sat in corners talking lowly over card games, even when the ladies at the cantina where they would entertain their male clientele they would tell the story. Wary travelers would here echoes of the tale but it all began the same way.
Fifteen years ago, a young boy named Sam moved with his family to Pecos. Sam was his parents pride and joy; he would race up and down Pecos with his wooden gun pretending to shoot at imaginary foes and would explore the stables for treasure. When Sam turned six his parents had purchased for him a puppy, the dog’s fur was as black as coal. Sam would play for hours with the puppy and as the dog grew so did its loyalty to Sam. Once while Sam played by a well near one of the stables which he did so often he accidentally disturbed a rattlesnake which had hidden itself in the cool hay mounds. As the snake slithered towards Sam, the dog pounced on the snake and sank its fangs into the snake’s neck shaking it like a whip. The snake’s neck snapped like a dried up twig and fell to the ground limp. The dog after that was well known in town for saving Sam and was regarded as a hero.
Sam and the dog were inseparable; wherever he went the dog went to. But the happiness would not last; Sam one day became very ill. His parents sought the help of the local doctor who after examining Sam told his parents he had smallpox, Sam became weaker and weaker and his parents watched helplessly as their son wasted away. One morning Sam’s mother went into his room to check on him as she always did and noticed Sam seemed calm instead of being racked by coughing. She called to him but he did not answer, his dog lay curled at the foot of the bed whimpering. It was then she knew Sam had died. The funeral was held a few days later and it seemed the whole town of Pecos turned out for it. As the hearse pulled Sam’s casket to the graveyard outside of town his dog followed behind, everyone took notice of the black dog whose head and tail drooped. The dog howled sorrowfully as Sam’s casket was lowered into the earth and covered with dirt.
For days the dog sat over the grave, Sam’s parents tried to bring the dog down from the grave many times and each time the dog would escape from their house and find its way back to the grave. Sam’s parents eventually gave up trying to convince the dog to leave the grave alone, they moved out of Pecos soon thereafter leaving the dog by Sam’s grave. The people of Pecos took pity on the dog and feed it with scraps of meat. But the dog would simply ignore the food and lay with its head on its paws staring at the grave. Eventually the dog died from starvation, its body was found by the graveyard caretaker. The caretaker was unsure of what to do with the body, asking the local priest if the dog could be buried with Sam, but the priest was outraged that the caretaker would suggest such a thing and would not have the animal buried on holy ground. So instead the caretaker buried the dog outside the cemetery gates in a small grave, after the dog was buried strange things began to happen in Pecos, first the caretakers house caught fire and he was killed in the blaze. The cause for the fire was never found, the town’s people would hear howls emanating from the graveyard and each time they visited the cemetery the cause for the howls wasn’t found.
Dust devils started appearing far more frequently in and around Pecos. Normally the sight of whirling clouds was not any cause for alarm but the frequency of them was puzzling. They would just suddenly appear and as quickly as they formed they would vanish. Reports came from all over town that the Sam’s dog would be seen wandering the shadows of the stables and in a few instances jump out of the fireplaces unsuspecting people. Its eyes burning like red hot coals, and teeth bared. Buildings began to burn and often the cause for the fire was never found, the stables where Sam and his dog played were burned to the ground killing the animals inside, those who saw the spectral dog wandering the streets were usually found dead within a few hours of the sighting or were killed when their houses went up in flames. Travelers to the town would encounter a strange dog manifesting itself from dust devils outside of Pecos and the travelers so horrified would frequently turn and go the other way from Pecos. Few had any doubts that the ghost was of Sam’s dog but what they couldn’t understand was why the dog was haunting the town. When the body of the local priest was found swaying from one of the rafters of the church and nearby on a wall was found the words “It’s All My Fault” written over and over again did the people of the town start to piece together why it was happening. But no one knew where to look for the remains of the dog. The only two people who knew its exact location were dead, and no one had the courage to pay the cemetery a visit out of fear of the ghost of the dog.
So the people of Pecos simply tried to get on with their lives, those who had fireplaces boarded them up and after dark no one would be found walking the streets. Soon visitors trickled back into Pecos and the town resumed a state of normalcy. But every so often the dust devils would appear and someone would be found dead in their rooms with a look of horror on their face. Pecos became known for the ghost of the dog and people flocked to try and catch a glimpse of it, but those who found what they sought paid a heavy price.

to be continued...

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