Francis was an awkward man. The closest thing to a friend he had was his dog William. William was an old dog, about 12 years old. William was the only thing Francis lived for. They lived in an old 5th floor apartment, and were barely getting by with Francis' low income job.
Francis worked in a boring office building, in a small cubicle. Francis' boss, Jeff, was utterly strict. Jeff had a gaze as sharp as daggers that could paralyze a man with fear; anyone who got caught off-task was fired and replaced. Let’s not forget about Joey.
Joey is the office jerk and Francis' rival. Joey is especially degrading to Francis. Joey has been trying to get him fired ever since Francis was promoted. Normally, Francis would just ignore him, but this day was different…
Francis was walking to the vending machine when he noticed Joey rise from his cubicle and pursue shortly behind. Francis stopped, turned, and calmly said "Please leave me alone,"
As usual Joey remarked, "Hey look, Francis is walking with all of his friends,"
Now annoyed, Francis angrily demands "Just go away!"
"You gonna' go cry about it to your dog!" Joey shouts as Francis storms off back to his cubicle.
Everyone stared at him as he violently walked down the aisle with his fists clenched. He sat down in his swivel chair and got back to work. Despite the fact that he was organizing folders, his mind was elsewhere. Francis was reflecting on what had happened. He let it get to him; he let himself believe that Joey was truly right.
As Francis gathered his things, he quickly fled the building, avoiding Joey, and sped to the apartment building. He got into the elevator with an old lady. She stared at him until he got off at his floor. When Francis opened the door to his room, William greeted him with a big lick all the way across his hand. William then curled up on the bed as Francis stored his coat and shoes in the closet. Francis sat down next to William. Francis was still thinking about what Joey said. It was a mental cage, he just couldn't escape, just couldn't slip away…
Francis arrived at work 10 minutes early, as he usually did, so he wouldn't risk getting fired for being late. Francis started working immediately, so he could be sure he wouldn't be bothered. Francis ate his lunch at his cubicle because he didn't want to have another conversation with Joey. And, like yesterday, Francis fled the building and sped to the apartment building. He got on the elevator alone. Francis went to his room and was greeted by William.
Francis took William to the dog park, as he did every Saturday, but little did he know that death was imminent. Francis noticed William was acting strange, but he thought nothing of it. Francis assumed that William was scared. Upon arrival, Francis found a tennis ball, left out for the dogs to play with, so he threw the ball and said "Go get it William!"
William perched himself on the dewy grass and stared at Francis.
"Come on boy, it’s alright, go and get it,"
William continued to stare. Francis turned and sat on the bench behind him. William slowly followed and sat in front of Francis. They stared for quite a while before Francis decided to go back to the apartment. They spent the rest of the day in the apartment, all the while William acted just as strange.
When Francis awoke he couldn't find William anywhere. He searched the entire apartment and couldn't find him. Francis finally found William under the bed. William was cold and wasn't moving. He was dead. Francis was extremely depressed. Francis buried him at the pet cemetery on the edge of town. Francis went back to the apartment…
Joey got a promotion. As for Francis, he spent the rest of his life in that apartment, which wasn’t very long.
