“It will be easy money!” says my grandma over the phone. “All you have to do is watch my precious little baby Cupcake at my house for the weekend and I’ll give you a little extra cash for your pocket!” I can envision her little rat-like dog, Cupcake, who looks about as old as my grandma is, sitting in her lap right now as we speak. I’m a little skeptical about staying alone in her tiny trailer, which is a part of the sketchiest trailer park in Meadowsburry, for two days alone with this old, white, crusty chihuahua of hers. I can’t deny the offer though; I’m a broke college student who has barely enough money for gas. “Can I at least bring her to mom’s house to watch her?” I say. I’d feel much better if I were at my own house with other people around. “No, Lindsay, unfortunately not. Cupcake can’t stay at another house besides this one or else she will get very stressed out, which may cause her to have a heart attack.” she says. I give a blank stare to my dorm room wall, frustrated and wondering how a dog can have a heart attack from just slight stress. Grandma may just be overly worried about Cupcake though, considering that dog is nearly twenty years old. “Okay, I’ll go over there and watch her this weekend.” I say finally.
“Thank you so much, sweetie!” My grandma says.
“Grandpa and I will be gone by the time you get there, so we will leave you a little note that will tell you what you need to do. See you Sunday night!”
“Bye, have fun!”
I put down the phone and start to question what I really had just agreed to. I know Cupcake is just an old little chihuahua, but the look in her eyes whenever I enter grandma and grandpa’s house makes me think differently.
Five days later, Sunday morning comes along. I pull up to the white trailer with flower themed curtains in the window, along with the faint sound of raspy barking coming from inside. I take a deep breath, grab my bag full of clothes and other supplies for the next two days, and step out of my car. Instantly, I regret my decision when I walk up to the door and open it. Cupcake is right there, waiting for the vicious intruder (me) who she thinks is coming to rob the house. “Hello Cupcake!” I try to say in a kind tone. Her barking doesn’t stop as she attempts to bite my ankle with her toothless mouth. I walk to the couch to put my bags down while trying to avoid the dog that is trying to attack me. “Hey, stop it!” She gets me once on the calf, so my first instinct is to jump onto the couch. Only a little bit of pain shoots through my leg; I assume she was able to get her sharp little mouth just right on my leg to where it could pinch, but this wasn’t just a little pinch. My calf immediately starts to feel numb. Blood is running fast down onto the couch. Damnit, not on grandma’s couch, I think to myself. Soon enough, my entire leg goes numb. I can’t stand on it anymore, let alone both of my feet. I quickly realize what’s about to happen, so I sit on the couch, even though Cupcake is still trying to pluck away at me, and let my vision go completely black and my mind go blank.
I’m on the floor when I wake up. As my vision clears, I start to see the dog standing with her face directly above mine. “Cupcake, what are you doing?” I mumble. She growls in response, showing me her… teeth? I think that maybe my vision is just still a bit fuzzy, but I realize what I’m seeing is real when she starts to snap at me. I’m paralyzed and stuck underneath a highly aggressive chihuahua that just grew teeth. Is my grandma’s dog about to kill me? The last thing I see are her long, sharp teeth heading for my face.
For a split second I gain consciousness after passing out again, but I can’t see anything. I can only hear voices. “Good girl, Cupcake,” a voice says. “You’ve made your mama proud as always.”