I awoke. I had been tossing and turning all night. Rain poured down and wind blew violently outside. The window rattled vigorously in its frame. The nearby fire crackled loudly in the fireplace, echoing off the walls and into my unsuspecting ears. I stood up and stretched out, inadvertently touching a weak spot in the aged wood plank floor and causing a creak. It was always like this. Spring brought storms and I could never get a good night's sleep. I forced open my tired eyes and walked over to the bowl of food set out by the stairs.
  "Sparky!" a voice said.
I, nose still in the bowl, jumped in terror.
  "Sorry! Did I scare you?"
I felt a soft hand brush through my heavy coat. I barked in content.
  "You have to get back to sleep!" said the voice again.
Finally, I recognized her. The person who fed me, loved me, and gave me everything I wanted. I barked again. She wrapped her hands around me and lifted me off the ground.
  "Here, let me help."
She laid me back onto my soft, brown bed and ran her hands through my fur again.
  "I love you. Goodnight." she said, standing up and walking back through the hall.
It took me a few seemingly long minutes to close my eyes again. I hated my dreams. I was an adventurous, imaginative dog and that was one of the things that made it hard for me to sleep. Once I finally fell asleep, I was immediately welcomed with a bright white light. I barked softly. Suddenly, I felt pain. It started in my legs and moved upward towards my tail, increasing in strength. I barked a little louder. Now, it reached my stomach. It felt as if I was being thrown through a pane of glass, tearing through my skin and bone. At this point, I was screaming. I couldn't stand it for much longer. Where was I? All I could do was stare at the light. Then, it faded. I whimpered in soreness as the pain I had just felt slowly subsided. The light was decreasing in brightness, too. I tried to force my eyes open again because I knew I was asleep. I tried with all my strength but to no avail. I was still stuck. Eventually, the light faded to reveal a bare room. The floor, cold and solid, felt rough on my paws. There were no lights. I felt a sudden jolt of energy, almost pushing me across the floor. It was pitch, black, and dark and an old, dusty window revealed what was outside. Wooden shelves with shattered jars lined the walls. I jumped and climbed, using my long claws to attach as well as I could to objects to reach the window. Finally, I looked outside. Then, everything turned white again, leaving me in complete mystery of what was outside.

---

BACKSTORY/EXPLANATION
DO NOT COUNT THIS IN THE FINAL WORD COUNT.

So, you probably just finished reading. In your head, you're asking, "What did I just read?" Well, let's figure that out. The idea behind this short story is that dogs can see and feel more than humans can. It starts off with a normal night and then turns out to be hard. Since I had some time constraints, I couldn't really add onto this very much. Certain parts of it are not for the faint of heart as he embarks through some extreme pain and some details may be morbid. But if you're here, you probably survived. Good news though. He's okay, just a little rattled. The story leaves off at a cliffhanger, giving absolutely no detail at what happens next. What Sparky was seeing was the end of the world, or in theory, the ceasing of all existence. Except for some reason, he was still alive. The rest is something you can make up.

In general, this was rushed. I didn't have much time to carry out a full submission in the earlier days of the contest and I finally had time. Unfortunately, it was 2 hours before the due date. In hopes of still being able to enter, I put this together. I'm glad I was able to participate. If you notice lack of detail or any way I can improve, PLEASE leave a comment. I need feedback from regular users like you. It really does help me out.

Thank you,
Outflow.