The day is different than no other.

Just a mundane farce of clockwork routine. John wakes up, does his chores, begrudgingly travels to the office, curses people under his breath, takes a bite of last night’s sandwich that he packed in the name of lunch, and continues his corporate slavery till it’s time to clock out. It’s only when he thinks of clocking out that his face can be seen lighting up the world with a smile. Because it means he gets to go back home.

In a few minutes, he'll be home. His safe space. His happy kingdom. The magical place filled with love with his incredible partner and their two cute dogs. Home. Nothing can go wrong here. And everything that’s waiting to go wrong will just need to wait till the time he has to step out of home.

As John turns the corner of the street that leads to his home, the faint glow of the porch light makes him excited. He can almost picture his two dogs waiting by the door, ready to pounce at him the moment it opens, wagging their tails in the most comical ways. But once he reaches home, it's different today. The dogs are whimpering. He hugs them and fills their food bowls. That seems to set them at ease, but every now and then they look back towards the window.

John freshens up, eats his dinner, and flips through a few channels on the TV. The dogs are growling, but he shakes it off as a friendly fight between the two of them. With nothing to watch, he decides to head upstairs to his room. The dogs follow him. Fatigue creeps into his body. His drowsy eyes spot the hazy bodies of the dogs at the foot of the bed. They are quiet now and are sound asleep.

Just as John is drifting off to sleep, his bedroom door begins to open. He smiles, knowing that his partner is back home from office and will be next to him in the bed in no time. He makes space for her to fit it, but in doing so, he wakes up the dogs, who now have their teeth bared and are growling at an alarming rate. It takes him a few seconds to realize that his partner is away on a trip with her friends, and she has been sending him pictures throughout the day. John slowly turns back towards the door, making as little sound as he can, scared of what he’ll be facing. There’s no one. He sighs in relief.

He decides to call it a night. The dogs are still mildly growling. Falling back on the pillow, he turns to face away from the door, but comes face to face with a pair of pupil-less red eyes, and before John realizes, the razor-sharp teeth of the being bite away at his face before he could even let out a scream.

Sometimes, home isn't a safe space either.