Note: This was inspired by the Courage the Cowardly Dog Intro, mentions of animal cruelty.
Fluffy was abandoned as a pup.
He couldn't remember what his former owners looked like. He did remember wild, black hair and yelling, but anything else was a blur regarding their appearance.
"Three headed freak," the black-haired person would spat. He remembered that too.
He also remembered moving fast one minute after being thrown into a cage in the back of a pickup truck; that was a clear memory because of how sore the bars made his first head when he was shoved into the small space. Fluffy whimpered, wishing he could tend to his wound despite being unable to reach it with either head.
Suddenly, there was more yelling and light. He was lifted with the cage and tossed to the ground, the impact caused the door to pop open. Fluffy yelled at them, calling them every insult that he and his other heads could think of suitable for people like them, but he knew that they'd only hear his words as barks.
Plus, they were long gone, leaving nothing but dust in their wake.
Fluffy sniffed around, hoping to find some scent that would be familiar to him. Unfortunately, he was in nothing but unfamiliar territory. With nothing but himself and his cage, Fluffy curled into a ball (as much as he could without hurting what was already sore on his body) and closed his eyes. He'd figure out what to do about his predicament somehow.
With his head being in the middle, Fluffy took the brunt of the hits when they went back and forth in arguments for food. No one even spared the pup a scrap because they would run and scream.
Maybe he shouldn't growl at them all when they got close to him. It was his right head's fault.
It had been a couple of days, and the hunger was beginning to show for Fluffy. His aggression was starting to get worse.
Until he was found by Hilda
A rickety sound reached Fluffy's ears; he thought that it could be something suitable for eating, so he wandered away from his cage to investigate.
A woman stepped out. She was fairly large in her physique with a head full of grey curls. It looked like that cotton Fluffy used to rip out of the pillows at his old home.
Thinking of that place made him angry. He snarled as the woman waddled closer to him.
"What is a young thing like you doing in a place like this?" the woman asked.
Fluffy was wary of her approach. He was growling, baring his teeth, and showing his claws. Guess he wasn't as threatening as skinny as he now was.
He could see the woman more clearly as she approached. She was older looking, but the hair was a giveaway to Fluffy anyway. She reached forward slowly with her hand closed around something. Fluffy sniffed the air, instantly taking in a savory smell so mouthwatering that his tongues slipped out of his mouth.
"The bread isn't much, but it will keep you until I can take you home," she said. "My name is Hilda. Come here, boy."
Fluffy was drawn by the smell, and he happily complied to her request. When he was close enough, Hilda fed him the bread for all three of his heads. He wouldn't growl at this woman anymore.
"I'm going to call you Fluffy because of all the fur you have," Hilda said. Fluffy saw her warm, brown eyes staring at him.
"Is that all right?" Hilda asked.
Fluffy barked, hoping that she took the interpretation as a yes. He wagged his tail happily for good measure.
She chuckled, leaning forward to pick him up in her arms. Now he might have been skinny, but Fluffy was no little pup. Yet she didn't complain or waver from him in her arms.
Fluffy had to hand it to the woman; she had strength, even if she resembled a pretty prune. At least she didn't look like a bone; then it would have been tempting to chew on her.
Hilda lived in the forest with her husband, Argus.
When she brought Fluffy to her vehicle, she grabbed something from the back. It happened to be a plush, wool pillow. Hilda laid it on the spot next to her, and Fluffy eagerly squeezed his way into the vehicle and laid on the pillow.
It felt much nicer than the cage he was thrown out in. He wouldn't chew on it even if the other heads wanted to; it was too comfortable to ruin.
Hilda started the car and soon drove off. She began telling him about her home that was in a forest that her husband liked to call the Forbidden Forest because he forbade anyone near their property. She told him about her husband Argus and what life would be like there.
By the second Fluffy had no complaints. She was nicer than anyone he'd met, and she didn't give him a reason to growl or fight her. It was as if the woman was an angel. An angel Fluffy was happy to have.
Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about her demon husband.
The moment Fluffy met Argus, he knew he wouldn't like him. His other heads agreed on this wholeheartedly. The wrinkly older man kept a snarl on his face that looked nastier than Fluffy's. And his teeth looked rotted; so Fluffy knew his breath was stinky.
And he looked like a bone; Fluffy would enjoy chewing him like one, too.
Add insult to injury, when Argus was introduced to Fluffy, he held a stick in his hand and took a swing at the pup.
One of Fluffy's heads would have had that hand and that stick if it weren't for Hilda pulling him away in time.
"Be nice, Argus, Fluffy is our new pet," Hilda said, rubbing Fluffy's head gently.
Argus snarled. "This is preposterous," he hissed. "That freak isn't staying in our home, and that's final!" He stomped his food for emphasis.
Hilda frowned and continued to rub Fluffy's head. He knew that she was trying to keep him from jumping on Argus. It was working. That and he wanted to eat something. Since he couldn't eat Argus, he had to behave and wait for Hilda to feed him.
Since she was willing to do so, what kind of pup would Fluffy be if he denied her that by biting her or her husband. Hilda was going to give him the love, food, and shelter that he needed; and he was not going to mess that up because that man wanted to be like Fluffy's former owners.
It had been three weeks since Hilda took Fluffy in and Argus had no choice but to like it. Fluffy would hear him every so often mutter something like 'stupid dog' or 'should get a cat' or 'freak'.
Fluffy could have snapped him three ways, but Hilda wouldn't like it. Hilda was the only reason Fluffy hadn't turned into one of those beasts in the middle of nowhere.
He was growing into the three-headed dog he was meant to be.
A/N: Written for QLFC and HSWW (Challenges and Assignments)
(QLFC) Team: Wigtown Wanderers; Position: Chaser 1; Prompt: Write from a pet's perspective about mistreatment or abandonment (of pets or people); Optional Prompts: (word) preposterous, (word) pillow, (object) stick
Word Count: 1,187