Don was an ordinary dog who loved to voice his opinions to his owners. He had no idea that his owners were able to understand him. Don figured out that he was able to say about ten words. In the early 1900s, he became quite the hit in America, and people paid a lot of money to see him perform. He was even an endorser of a brand of dog treats. Don was living the good life. As his time on Earth came close to an end, Don was happy with the life he lived and went into the light with peace.

Don had no way of knowing that his time in the doggy heavens was short-lived. He had no idea that his body was cryonically frozen. He had no way of knowing that there would be a significant advancement in technology that would allow cryonic to succeed in bringing people back from the dead. Or, in this case, a dog. Scientists figured there would be side effects in those brought back from their frozen state, but they assumed they would only be in people. They never stopped to consider the impact it could have on a dog.

Don only went in knowing a few words in German. Who could have imagined that he would wake up speaking fluent English? Not the nurse who fainted when Don asked where all the other dogs went. Not the lead scientist thought they lost their mind when Don asked to use the bathroom outside.

Don was happy to be alive again. Although he missed his owners, he also missed entertaining people. Now, Don could bring smiles to the faces of everyone in the world without leaving the lab. He couldn’t believe the new technological advancements society had made since 1915. Then, after a few days for everyone in the cryonics lab to get used to the idea of a talking dog, they shared their miraculous scientific discovery online. A video of Don introducing his furry self soon went viral worldwide. So while Dona and the scientists thought the video received astonishment and praise, quite the opposite occurred.

The world was horrified to see a dog talking. Sure, people adored talking animals in cartoons and low-budget CGI films, but in real life, Don was horrifying. So what had the cryonic chamber done to make a dog talk? And if it made a dog come out talking, what would it do to humans? People were playing God. They were going far beyond the powers humans are capable of harnessing. Humanity relied on cryonics to live longer, survive long distances in space travel, and wait for cures for deadly diseases. People grew frantic as this was not what they wanted. They did not want to go into these frozen chambers one way and come out without guaranteeing who they would be then. Don had proved a point. Society was not ready.

Fear and panic spread quicker than wildfires in a drought. Just days after the lab posted the video, humanity began to crumble. Cities and towns soon went into anarchy. The ethical and moral problems of cryonics tore society apart as they couldn’t handle the implications of the technology.

A month later, the bombs dropped. The age of humanity had come to an end. Nothing of society remained except for Don. Don was placed back into his frozen chamber before the mushroom-shaped cloud of death had reached the lab. As Don began to feel sleepy, he heard the lead scientist say, “the world wasn’t ready for you, Don.”

Don was happy to be back in doggy heaven, although some dogs were not happy to have their time on Earth shortened drastically by Don’s impact on it. Still, he enjoyed running with the other dogs on the soft, bouncy clouds until he fell through one.

Don opened his eyes and was shocked to find he was alive again. Humanity had been wiped out; who woke him up? He shook the sleep away and looked at the figures in front of him. They looked like humans, but their skin was purple, and their eyes were more prominent than the average human’s. Don looked around the room and noticed that their technology was much more advanced.

A figure in a lab coat captured Don’s attention. They put a warm towel around Don and gave him a bone. The figure then gently scratched his ears. As Don’s leg started to bounce, the figure said, “we are ready for you, Don.”

This story has got to be the weirdest piece I have ever written. I honestly believe something as stupid as a dog talking would make society a tailspin. The inspiration was from a random Wikipedia article about a German dog in the 1900s named Don, who could speak eight words in German. One of my favorite dogs in film and tv is Dug from UP, who could talk about a translating collar he wore. I had a group of aliens rescue Don in the end because Don deserved some love after all he went through. Since humans could not appreciate what made him special, they did not deserve to have him.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia article, and I hope you enjoyed my short story!