The burden of a horrid crime had been placed upon my head. Placed upon my conscious and I knew not of what they spoke. Their claims ran wild through the cobbled streets and illuminated brighter than the burning oil before being extinguished by the lamplighters every early dawn. What was it that I did? What warranted this hatred, this utter betrayal from the populace I had served all my life? Threats were the plague of my mind since my night of accusation. Such deep threats. They chanted from their hungry mouths and sang of dogs that would meet me at my end when I'd be thrown to them in the street. But they did not know of the truth.
A dog was responsible. A strange occurrence but it was the truth they wished to ignore. A dog sent from Hell and one that was only visible to my eye. It appeared that night, that disgraceful night I could not recall. I remembered the dog and then I remembered what felt like endless sleep. It appeared to me by candlelight while I savored the sound of the storm showers beyond the fogged windowpane. That's when I entered the endless sleep and faintly remembered following, almost floating, behind the dog out into the storm. Then nothing. Pure nothingness. No sight. No sound. There was no taste or sight or touch. Untainted nothingness but not at all death.
When I awoke my clothes felt damp and my skin felt clammy. Blood dripped from my brow and when I regained awareness of my surroundings I realized that this rich and fresh blood was not of my own. I sat tied to a chair, restrained, and noticed the dog that had led me here was resting at my feet. I was alone in candlelight once more, soaked in blood, not rain, and I could hear frantic conversation behind the closed door in front of me. I pleaded with them to understand. I committed no crime! It was not me! I did not know what the accusations were. It was the dog! The dog! Didn't they see? But they did not see. A figment of my imagination is what they claimed. There was no dog. Only me. Only me! Falsehoods! Was it not resting at my feet, plain as day? And in the upcoming days it remained at my feet, circling and barking as I paced my dank cell.
I waited and listened, listened to the ethereal barking, and listened to the baseless accusations that ruined my good name and years of work. Everything undone in an instant during that endless sleep. And when the day of execution had arrived they still ignored the truth, satisfied with their lies! The dog! I know it did this, committed this crime and placed it neatly upon my shoulders. What have I done? The barking grew in numbers while I lay on the cobblestone. The dog, visible only to me, led the choir of howling and gnashing. It remained at my feet as I pleaded for an answer. An explanation. Leashed monsters, ready to feast, ready to satiate their hunger. They were unleashed and I entered the endless sleep one final time.