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1. there was a girl that lived in a rural town, one of those places thats nothin but a highway crossroads. everybody knows everybody kinda deal. a close family friend was going out of town on an overnight business trip and they asked her if she could house sit for a night. she of course obliged and didn't mine the extra little money.
   
   she gets out of school and goes over to the house. its already late afternoon by the time she gets there and the sun is starting to go down. its an old two story wooden house just like many of the others in the town. she gets inside and makes herself at home while she reads the note the family friend left her. it was the basics, how various appliances work, how to take care of their dog, remember to lock all the doors and windows before you go to bed.
   
   she fixes a sandwich and watches tv and does her homework for the remainder of the evening. the dog just hangs out with her, a chill old german shepard. a storm rolls in but its common that time of year.
   
   its getting late and she starts to drift off a bit and all the sudden heres a loud crash in the basement. she jolts awake extremely startled but thinks not much of it, rats or something falling over. so she checks all the windows and the front and back door and then goes down to the basement just to make sure everything was fine. a shovel and other equipment lay toppled over next to the basement window, just as she had expected. the window was open and rain and wind were pouring in. she shuts the window, locks it, goes back upstairs.
   
   she gets ready for bed and heads to the master bedroom, a large cozy place. the storm is getting worse and it makes her a little uneasy, but the dog curls up beside the bed and keeps her company, licking her hand, and she eventually falls asleep.
   
   throughout the night the storm continued and the thunder and lightning were as worse as ever. she woke up a bit startled and flung her arm over the edge of the bed. she felt the dog and he licked her hand and she was comforted again and went back to sleep.
   
   this happened a few more times throughout the night before the storm died down. she would wake, feel for the dog half asleep, he'd lick her hand and she'd go back to sleep.
   
   morning came and all was quiet and the storm was gone. she woke up and noticed the dog was no longer there, she figured he had gone downstairs because he was hungry or wanted out.
   
   she woke up and went down to the bathroom and heard a distinct dripping. she wondered if she hadn't turned the sink faucet off completely.
   
   she walked into the bathroom and screamed. there hanging by its legs, slung up in the shower, was the german shepard skinned. there was blood everywhere, all over the tubs and the walls and dripping down the drain. on the mirror was a note scrawled in blood 'humans can lick too'.