10 May 2024 part 1

So, this is a fresh attempt at a prompt I used back in October of 2022. I started thinking about it randomly, and came up with a different approach, so I figured, why not? I definitely had fun with it. I may come back to it and add more, but no promises.

Rachel’s last thoughts weren’t about her family, or her college classes, or her friends. They weren’t even about the idiot who’d been driving drunk and swerved onto the sidewalk. No, herr last thoughts were, “Oh, good, the dogs are safe, at least. Ms. Haversham will be relieved.”

So perhaps it is little surprise, then, that shortly after her soul arrived in the Underworld, she found herself in Hades’ office, presented with a very unique job offer.

Rachel blinked, then looked from Hades (who looked like he’d been chiseled from ice, not born), up to the eight-foot tall hound slobbering over everything with all three of his heads.

“You want me to take Cerberus for a walk each day?”

“Indeed.” Hades steepled his hands in front of him. “Your era seems to have a dearth of ‘heroes’. At least, of the kind of idiot to parade into the Underworld uninvited. So there’s been fewer people for Cerberus to wrestle with and get his energy out. Conversely, with the increased population, I’ve been busier than ever, so…” The god let out a sigh and flashed the giant dog an apologetic smile. “Well, I haven’t had the time to take proper care of him myself. So anything you can do would be greatly appreciated.”

Rachel opened and closed her mouth, looking for something to say. She looked up at the giant dog featured in so many myths and stories. “Huh. Well, uh… I can do my best?” Quite frankly, if Cerberus decided he wanted to go somewhere, Rachel was certain she wouldn’t be able to stop him.

5 October 2022

I think in addition to the slump I mentioned in the previous post, I also was really exhausted this day. Barely wrote 20 minutes. I also had no idea what to write about, so I pulled a random prompt from online; it talked about walking Cerberus. I thought it was fun. I didn’t finish, and I’m not sure I ever will, but it was a fun one to write.

After getting the letter, Rachel had half-expected to wind up just off the island at som massive, hidden mansion in the Jersey woods, but the address actually brought her to a very sleek, modern high-rise. The security guard let her in, and she was not surprised to see her client lived on the top floor. Most of these types tended to; Rachel wondered if they enjoyed looking down on the masses below them.

Soon enough, the elevator arrived and Rachel knocked on the door to the penthouse. “Hello? It’s Rachel Durmont, for Ms. Hecate le Fay. You asked me to walk your dog?”

“Oh, thank the Fates,” a woman’s voice cried out. The door opened to reveal a thirty-something woman with short, dark hair. Based on the bags under her eyes, it’d been ages since she’d gotten any sleep.

And it wasn’t hard to see why; behind her, a dog was tearing into a very expensive-looking throw pillow. That, Rachel could handle; she’d seen worse since she started this business. No, the problem she had was the two extra heads the dog had, all fighting for the pillow. She peered in, half awe-struck and half terrified. “Is that…”

“A puppy Cerberus? Yes, yes it is. And it’s just as horrible as that sounds.”

Rachel absently felt for the gloves in her coat pocket. She had a feeling they weren’t going to be enough this time.

Ms. le Fay continued, “Yeah… The big girl downstairs finally settled down and had a litter. Perse loves the lot, but even she has limits, so they foisted one off onto me. What gives? Anyway, I don’t really care what you do with it, just give me two – no, even one hour would be heavenly, where I don’t have to worry about it. That’d be a huge help.”

The gears in Rachel’s head struggled to click into place. “You want me to take that,” she pointed at the puppy, “and go out in public for an hour or two. Is that right?”