Winston sniffed, shifting in his bed, trying to ignore the little human on his back. Flipping over, he glared at the human child, but this only seemed to make it smile brighter, gripping his belly fat with its strange paws.

  Letting out a yip, Winston resigned to his fate as the child wrapped its arms around him, trapping his tiny body. As he struggled, tongue dangling from his mouth, he felt the pressure on his chest ease. He watched, content, as one of his humans lifted the little one and gently scolded the child. Setting down the child, his human called, “Nugget! Food time!”

  Stubby tail wagging in excitement, Winston dropped out of his bed, landing with a plop. He didn’t know why his humans called him ‘Nugget,’ but he quite frankly didn’t care. He had food, shelter, and a warm bed. What more could a corgi ask for?

  Waddling into the kitchen after his human, Winston butted her leg encouragingly, even barking cutely to eke out as much food as possible. Glancing down at him, she sighed.

  “Nugget, you chubby little boy…you need to lose weight, you heard what the vet said.” She shook her head, bending down and pinching his cheeks. “Fine. But just this once, okay?”

  Winston endured the cheek pinching and cuddles, waiting patiently. Finally, she let go, glancing both ways before adding an extra scoop of kibble to his bowl. Yipping happily, Winston darted as best he could over to the bowl, tail practically vibrating. As he began his feast, he paused, turning his head towards the bedroom door, from which a man had just entered.

  The man looked down at Winston’s bowl before turning and eying the woman suspiciously, “Sarah…are you overfeeding Nugget again?”

  The woman, Sarah, took on an innocent look before responding, “What are you talking about? I would never!”

  Winston looked on in amusement as his humans argued. Why were they so focused on his meals? Why not worry about their own food? Sometimes it almost seemed like his humans were under the impression that they owned him, and not the other way around. As the man approached, ready to take Winston’s food, Winston deployed his ultimate tactic.

  Flopping onto his side, he let his tongue loll out cutely as he stuck his paws into the air. Almost to the food bowl, his human suddenly veered off course, dropping to his knees. Winston closed his eyes as his human began massaging his paws, blabbing about something called ‘Cuteness Aggression.’

  “Oh my god, I don’t think I’ll ever get over how adorable his beans are! They’re so squeezable!” The man muttered, rubbing a paw in each hand.

  “Mark,” Sarah said, shaking her head, “We’ve had him for five years, and not once have you stopped praising his paws! Now, we have a child who needs to take a nap, so why don’t you go take care of him?”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Mark reluctantly released Winston, but not before booping his snout, taking a moment to admire its texture and coolness before sighing and turning to leave, “Fine.” He kissed her cheek and shuffled out of the room, grumbling about how Sarah was trying to keep Nugget all to herself.

  Winston watched smugly as Sarah bent down and ruffled his fur before turning and rifling through a cabinet. It always worked; his humans just couldn’t resist his charm. Turning back to his overly full bowl, he dug in, yipping happily.

  ?? ′?? ? ??` ??

  Licking his chops, Winston waddled into the living room, collapsing onto the couch. As he began to doze off, relishing the rays of sunshine on his back, he let out a high-pitched squeal as he was lifted into the air. Blinking open his eyes, Winston found himself face to face with his human, Sarah.

  Winston glared at her as she spoke, “Nugget, how many times do we have to tell you? This couch is off limits! You can sleep literally anywhere else! Why do you have to sleep there? We have two couches, sleep on the other one!”

  Winston struggled against her, flailing his legs in an attempt to escape and return to his cozy corner of the couch, but it was to no avail. Still pouting, he was plopped onto an armchair in the corner of the room, where he stayed, glaring at his humans as they chatted, trying to get their pup to eat.

  It seemed that luck was against Winston that day, because just as he was drifting off, he was jolted awake once more.

  Leaping to his feet, Winston slipped off the armchair, barking in alarm as the house shook, lights flickering. Even the TV, which had been playing the news, was now only showing blackness.

  Eyes widening in alarm, Winston darted forwards, his stubby legs carrying him as fast as they could as he dove towards the human child’s high chair. Sliding across the hardwood floor, Winston glanced up, praying he wasn’t too late. As the chair began to fall, he slammed his tiny body into the side, steadying it for just long enough for his humans to grab the pup. Ignoring the pain in his side, he darted over to Mark, butting his leg and barking at the pup in Mark’s arms.

  As Sarah darted over from her seat, stroking the crying pup’s hair, she gave him a fond smile, bending down to embrace him. Just as she scooped up Winston, her grateful expression morphed into one of confusion, then horror.

  Wide-eyed, she turned to Mark. “What’s happening? What’s happening?”

  As her voice became increasingly panicked and urgent, Mark began to respond, but his expression changed. “No, no, no, no, no, this can’t be right. I…I don’t know…”

  Still in Sarah’s arms, Winston began to panic, growing more and more confused as his humans’ faces drained of color, and the pup started wailing and kicking as though he was being held against his will.

  Just as the chaos reached its peak, an eerie silence fell over the household. Winston watched in horror as his humans froze, statues depicting a terrified family. Then, as one, in a flash of brilliant light, they disappeared, leaving a terrified and confused Winston to fall to the floor, alone in the silence of his home.

  Congratulations! Your world has been successfully integrated by the System!

  not slice of life.