Licking

My great-grandmother lived alone up in the mountains at her cabin. Her husband had died, so she was there all alone. She only had one companion, and that was her loving dog. They both loved each other very much and the dog loved her and comforted her. Every night when she went to bed, the dog would lick her hand to let her know that he was there to protect her.

One night, she had gone to bed and the dog had licked her hand like he had done routinely every night since her husband died. But this night was different. She had woken up in the middle of the night because she heard her dog whimpering. She wanted to comfort him and let her know she was there for him, so she stuck her hand out by the bed and she felt the dog gently lick her hand like always. She figured he was just cold so she went back to sleep. The dog's whimpering had woken her up a second time in the night so she stuck her hand out, the dog licked it and she went back to sleep. This happened a third time, and she stuck her hand out and the dog stopped whimpering and came and licked her hand. She stayed awake a few moments afterward and the dog had stopped whimpering. She went back to sleep again.

In the morning, she woke up and stuck her hand out by the bed, but nothing licked her hand. She thought that the dog had already awaken and was just in the front room. She rolled over and got out of bed and heard a drip... drip... drip... drip. She thought the sound was coming from the kitchen, so she walked over and turned the handles on the sink faucet, but it wasn't the source of the noise.

After frustratingly checking the sink and its pipes, she gave up and continued into her bathroom to take a shower, and as she got closer to the bathroom door, it was evident that the sound was coming from within. She opened the door, looked above the bathtub and SCREAMED! There, hanging from the light by his tail, was her loving companion, with his blood dripping into the bathtub. She screamed and began to cry. Wiping her eyes and sobbing, she turned and looked into the mirror. In the mirror she saw the dog's reflection and written on the mirror in her dog's blood, with drips and streaks hanging down from each letter, were the words...

HUMANS CAN LICK TOO.

File:Lighton.jpg

An illustration from one of the many variations of the story; here, the dog is hung by his neck and the message on the mirror is slightly different.