Short Story: A Dog-headed man by Damhuri Muhammad

In this short story, Damhuri Muhammad weaves a poignant narrative full of wit and wisdom giving us an insight into a probable future where the thin line between imagination and reality is blurred.

The dog was just an ordinary pet, belonging to a man who was studying witchcraft. The pinnacle of the attainment of witchcraft is immortality. However, every study complement always requires an examination, so that his achievements are recognized. So, one sacred night, he slit his pet dog’s throat. The dog’s head rolled like a small coconut falling from a tree. Before slaughtering, he had put an amulet on his dog’s tail, accompanied by a magical spell that only a demonic follower like himself could recite. He did not aim to kill his beloved pet dog, he was just proving the power of witchcraft he had mastered perfectly.

While waiting for the headless dog to lay still like a carcass, with the same knife, he slashed his own neck. It also broke off. His head rolled not far from the pet dog’s head. He lifted each head to attach to each body, with hands still covered in blood. Unfortunately, he was wrong. He stuck his head into the dog’s neck and instead, stuck the dog’s head to his neck. On that sacred night, two alien creatures that had never existed before were created, namely a dog-headed man and a man-headed dog. Instantly, they rushed in opposite ways. And, for several seasons they never saw each other again.