'Srak' 'Srak' 'Srak'
Bits of leather and puffs of cotton flew into the air as Shaggy made use of the sharp nails on its forelegs and slowly tore into the sofa.
'Sneeze' 'Sneeze'
Some of the stray cotton that flew in the air got sucked into its doggy nose which made it sneeze a few times.
The dog shook its head, sneezed a few more times and then just walked away with a minor bark. The entire cushion of the leather sofa looked as if a storm had ravaged through it.
A few seconds later, from the gaps at the corners, a tiny head peaked out as it began to warily inspect its surroundings.
"It seems to have left, for now." Said a relieved Prakash as two tiny munchkins slowly climbed out.
Anita gazed in the general direction of their house's entrance with a frown. Their eyesight seemed to have worsened by a lot after they became small. Their range of vision became so small that they couldn't make out objects or the landscape in clarity if the distance between them increased beyond 10-12 feet, a prime source of concern for the insecure couple.
"Akash is in a place that is currently a lot safer than ours so, don't sport such a grave expression," Prakash said as his brain churned for the myriad possibilities of their survival chances.
"Shaggy isn't our only threat." Anita glared at Prakash as her eyes turned fierce. It was as if her eyes would burn through him if she gazed at him any longer.
"You mean…" Prakash shuddered as he came to the same conclusion as Anita.
First of all, they became tiny. Guessing based on the sizes of all the familiar objects they gazed upon relative to their own, they came to a conclusion that their heights ranged between 5-6 centimetres. Not that such a fact helped to pacify them even slightly.
And, most of all, Shaggy wasn't the only threat that they had to guard against. It was a fact that was glossed over when a human was a giant that spanned 6 feet tall and weighed around 60-70 kilograms on average. Insects weren't much of a threat to them except for the disease-causing bacteria they carried in their bodies.
But now, the playing field was no longer tipped in their favour.
Mosquitoes, with their sharp needle-like mouthparts, each stab of which would prove to be quite deadly to their current bodies. It would be like a knife that stabbed into their body and also sucked their blood in.
Houseflies, cockroaches, honey bees, wasps, spiders, and ants. Each insect had enough firepower in them to become potential human killers.
The husband and wife duo had properly maintained their house till now, so except those that could fly and come in through the windows, there probably wouldn't be any pests in their house at the moment.
But, house lizards existed in their neighbourhood, and assuming the same happened to all the humans like what had occurred to the husband and wife duo, who could control them now?
The bodies of a typical house lizard ranged from 3-10 centimetres on average and they had strong immunity to diseases while their skin was also slightly toxic. Boasting such stats, they could very well try to hunt the humans.
Ants were even worse. They were even capable of killing bigger creatures such as lizards, frogs, and rats, and the current humans were well within their kill zone. Moreover, they ranged in the millions per each nest and were literally a powerful, organized and a fearless army.
'Rip'
Anita took some torn leather pieces, barely managed to tear off the extras from it and tied it around her hips. She fastened it enough so that it wouldn't fall due to her movements but also wouldn't hinder her motion.
She proceeded to do the same to cover up her chest area while Prakash mimicked her actions and covered his lower half.
"Woof…woof"
Suddenly, they heard the barks of Shaggy as it once again entered the house. But, this time, it didn't go near the sofa that gave it a sneezing fit just awhile ago.
Shaggy slowly raised its nose, sniffed once, sneezed once again, then brought its nose a little lower and began to sniff around the house.
It all happened a few hours ago. Its owner had just arrived after a long time and it felt excited, happy and various other doggy emotions as it smelled that familiar scent.
It began by using its ultimate technique 'Body hold' and forced its owner to play with it until it got satisfied.
Then it walked towards a tree underneath which a bowl and a pot were placed in order. The pot contained water while the bowl was filled with delicious food at regular intervals.
It slowly drank water from the pot when a hand slowly caressed its back. Shaggy smelled a familiar scent, ignored it and continued to drink water.
The guy who caressed its back just now happened to be the driver who had been talking with the gardener in muffled voices.
Maybe they were complaining about their pay in comparison to the freeloader servant Diana, maybe they were talking smack about their employer behind their backs or maybe they were just engaging in some small talk.
Shaggy didn't know and also didn't seem to care. Sufficient food and a peaceful nap were all it ever cared about.
Suddenly, its ears perked up in alertness as the two humans beside it began screaming out in pain. The sounds disappeared within a couple of seconds as the two humans fell face-first on the ground.
'Thud' 'Thud'
Shaggy jumped up in fright and immediately ran away from the place.
'Sniff' 'Sniff'
A few seconds later, Shaggy slowly crawled towards the two figures and sniffed their bodies. It then nudged them with its nose, licked their faces, bit their clothes and tried to drag them. Suddenly, their bodies jerked violently. Shaggy sprinted away.
Almost 30 minutes later, Shaggy regained its courage and neared the two figures again. They were covered by a dim violet radiance and appeared to have lost some weight.
A few hours later, Shaggy was digging through the soil in one corner of the garden, a place where it always found some worms to munch on.
Time passed, it was evening now. Shaggy felt really hungry. It knew that it would be able to find some food within the house but it didn't dare to enter inside. The only time it ever entered the house by mistake, it was beaten up by its owner.
It was a scary experience. Never did it ever dare step into the house again.
Shaggy tried to find some scattered bits and pieces of food, trying to alleviate its hunger when a pleasant aroma drafted into its sharp nose.
It traced the aroma back to its source only to end up under the tree where its empty food bowl and a pot of water were placed.
It poked its nose near the ground as it slowly walked to a spot where various clothes were laid. Saliva dripped from its mouth as Shaggy poked through the small heap of clothes and gazed upon two weird creatures.
Wary, but also curious; Shaggy first touched one of the weird creatures with its foreleg. No reaction.
It then gave a nudge with its nose. No reaction.
As it began to lose its sense of reason due to its hunger, Shaggy chomped upon one of the creature's body with a vicious bite.
The creature was small enough that its jaws could easily encase it completely. Blood splattered through its mouth as a row of canine teeth pierced into the fragile flesh of the weird creature.
'Chomp' 'Chomp' 'Chomp'
Shaggy placed the half-eaten body on the ground, touched it with its paws a couple of times and then proceeded to eat it.
"Aaargh! Monster!" A faint shrilly voice was detected by its sharp ears as its head snapped back into the direction of the sound only to find the other 'Tasty' creature begin to run away.
The speed of the running creature significantly increased as it made a brief eye contact with the bloodthirsty eyes of its canine predator.
As he witnessed the death of his colleague, he, the driver didn't want to end up in a gigantic dog's stomach. The mashed remains of the gardener horrified him.
As he continued to run, he came to a frightening conclusion. Based on his current body size, his running speed became…quite slow.
He could barely cover a distance of 3 metres in 2 seconds. How could he last against his predator, a German Shepherd that stood at 4 feet while on all fours? The outcome was obvious.
The driver ran around in a zig-zag manner, sprinted through a series of trimmed decorative plants as a form of protective cover and to throw off the pursuing giant dog. But Shaggy relied on its sense of smell every time it lost sight of its prey.
The game of chase spanned for half a minute at the end of which came an unresigned cry.
'Chomp'
After an executionary chomp, Shaggy carried the dead body in its jaws as it went back to the spot under the tree and kept the body beside another mashed one and slowly savoured them both.
After finishing its morsel, Shaggy found out that its hunger hadn't satiated in the least. Moreover, its body began to occasionally tremble as if it had consumed narcotics.
It then began to search for the same aroma once again; the taste of that weird creature was completely catered to its taste buds. It also began to develop a faint sense of addiction to the aroma.
Shaggy immediately spotted another source of aroma drifting out from the entrance to the house. It raced to the spot but just when it was about to step inside the house, its body subconsciously stopped.
It knew the punishment that would befall upon it if it ever crossed that line and entered the house. Shaggy stood at the door's entrance, its legs outside but its mouth slowly inched in, sniffing that mouth-watering aroma once again.
'Drip' 'Drip'
Its drool dripped onto the tiles inlaid in the house but its legs still refused to step in.
The conflict ended when Shaggy couldn't smell the scents of its owners and its hunger took control of its mind. A single memory could no longer block the desire that emerged from deep within it as its rationality could no longer resist that mesmerizing aroma.
In a gait that completely expressed its predatory nature, Shaggy took a step into the house, its instincts no longer under human control.