Rompin? Round by Pent Ghelsburg
Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. Any resemblance to persons alive or dead is purely coincidental. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work involves micro macro content with underaged characters. You have been warned.
All that glitters is not gold. The new, the shiny, and the anticipation of the first-time experience are all too real. The allure of that which has been hyped up is as old as marketing itself. The constant drumming up of excitement with the possibility of increased sales is all too enticing for those in the business of sales. Much the same could be said especially when it came to children?s toys, especially when they happened to be easily convinced something was worthwhile.
Dan was a young cub who was all about gaming. He was the oldest boy of a family of four, who had to work for everything he wanted. His parents were of average means and had taught him responsibility from a young age. Now 9 years of age the mixed breed dog had set his eyes on a VR headset of course his father made him work for it. Still, the puppy wasn?t about to turn down the challenge of getting something new.
Dan?s father had not set the bar very high. The boy only had to do 2 chores a day for 3 weeks straight. The puppy?s parents had even gone as far as to set his schedule. The boy wanted the thing bad enough that he did everything they asked and when 3 weeks had passed, his mother ordered the thing. Now it was just a matter of time before he got to test it out. The dog boy couldn?t help but be excited.
The days and a week passed until there was a knock at the door. It was the weekend and Dan was being watched by his usual babysitter. His younger siblings were away with his parents on some errands. He had been left home sick as he?d been recovering from an illness recently. The older teen girl who did very little to watch him, often spent time staring at her phone and chatting with her friends. So when the door knocked, it was up to the boy to go answer it. Of course, when the puppy boy saw the familiar mail truck, he couldn?t help but feel a sense of excitement building inside him.
The dog opened the door and was greeted by the usual mail carrier. The elderly woman handed off the box to him with a smile.
"Thanks!" He said, quickly snatching the box away, with his tail wagging behind him in excitement.
Dan looked at the label. The box was addressed to him and he was certain it had to be the VR headset. He closed the door and immediately brought it over to where his computer was. Tearing the thing open he saw the familiar logo of the company who made the headset.
The cub pulled it out of its packaging and took it into his room where his computer was. Setting it up didn?t take long. He?d already watched plenty of videos on it and was fully prepared for it. After a mere 15 minutes, he was good to go. The boy powered on the computer and waited for it to cycle on. Dan knew exactly what he wanted to do as he?d already planned it out in his head. Once the computer was on, he powered on the software for the device and put the headset on.
As the headset powered on, the boy was given commands to program it. His brain was scanned and a virtual representation of himself was shown on screen. Dan navigated through the menu as he changed the perspective so the cub could see through the avatar?s eyes so that he could experience it more authentically. Once the mutt was done, he changed his attire to a Mawashi like his favorite Sumo Wrestler Kakuryu Rikisaburo.
Soon, Dan found himself in a room resembling the one in the front part of his house. The furniture setup was almost identical. On the coffee table at the center of the living room was a small vial with a label on it that read "Drink Me". It was almost as if it were a call back to Alice in Wonderland, a fable that the boy was somewhat familiar with. Without any hesitation, the puppy drank the bottle. The liquid inside of it didn?t have much taste to it, though it did make his body feel warmer as he consumed it. He was able to down it in only a few swallows.
Moments passed as his body began to feel strange. Soon his body began to surge upward, growing ever larger by the second. The dog?s tail wagged in excitement as if he knew exactly what was happening. Dan watched as the floor beneath him got further and further away. After a mere minute, his head pressed against the ceiling and it almost felt as if was pressing down on him. The cub repositioned himself a bit, feeling power surge inside him as he had to arch his back a bit to accommodate his ever-larger size.
Soon he felt his back pressing against the ceiling, even arching his back wasn?t helping so he had to sit down. Looking in front of him the cub?s legs stretched much longer than he remembered. Dan wondered if he might be stronger. Standing up, he felt himself plow right through the ceiling with only a small bit of effort. The boy couldn?t help but chuckle as the drywall crumbled to the floor.
Dan leaned down again so that he could see in front of him. His body was still feeling warm but it felt like the growth had slowed down, at least for now. Taking a single step forward, the cub?s paw caused some of the wooden panels of the ground below him to splinter. He felt the warm sensation inside him build up as his body began to creep upward more rapidly again. Just as the puppy was about to duck under the front door, he crashed through it leaving the frame crumbled behind him.
The mutt chuckled as his tail swished behind him, the sudden movement from it causing the door to slam against the inside of the home. Dan couldn?t help but feel powerful, walking over towards a tree he could see he was almost as tall as it was now. The cub?s line of sight was still steadily rising as the canopy of leaves at the peak of it slipped lower and lower beneath his eye level.
The dog looked in the distance. He could see the outline of the city and wanted to show off his new size. Dan began to run as quickly as his legs would take him, finding that the stride of his legs now was much longer than he remembered. The boy was able to make pretty good time as he headed towards the big city. As he got closer he could overhear the traffic of cars going back and forth.
The moment the puppy arrived in the city, some of the furs who were on foot ran in fear of the seemingly giant boy. Dan smirked, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction about having this new power. Looking over at a building he saw his reflection looking back at him. The same frail cub he?d seen many times in his reflection before looked back at him. He measured himself against the building, pressing right up against a flag pole that hung off the side of it.
As the cub put a little bit of his weight against the frame of the building, some of the glass shattered.
"Woops..." He said as his still high-pitched voice boomed at a higher decibel.
Some sirens began to signal as he heard the screech of tires. Dan felt a sense of uncertainty as he looked around to gauge where it was coming from. The boy picked himself up again, looking over at a car that had already been abandoned from the sight of him. He knelt, pushing the thing along with a little bit of effort. The car almost resembled one of the many similar models he had at home in his collection.
Moments later the sirens became much louder. Police cars came screaming around the corner, stopping only when they saw the seemingly giant cub playing with one of the stopped cars. Some of the officers getting out, shouting at him from a megaphone.
"Stop what you?re doing or we will be forced to call your parents." This was a threat the police often used when youth got out of hand.
Dan looked over at them, stopping pushing the car along the street. The dog?s ears flicked up curiously. He certainly didn?t want to get in trouble, though he was still having fun. The boy crawled over towards them getting only a few meters away from where they were, his knee crashing through the roof of one of the cars.
"Step away! We mean business. We have your parents on the phone, right now." Again the threat was repeated.
The cub stopped again, sitting on his rear end to show that he was showing signs of submission. The fear of angering his parents ran rampant in the puppy?s mind. Soon he heard the sound of his father?s voice spoken through the sound of the same megaphone the police were using.
"Son, you will stop this instant or I will ground you for a month. No games...nothing." The familiar angry tone of the man?s voice caused his son?s anxiety to peak.
The dog was at a loss for what to do. Part of him was having fun toying around with cars as if they were action figures but the other part of him was still afraid of his parents. The police waited with bated breath as the boy sat there idly for a moment. It took a few minutes for him to decide what he wanted to do. Dan stood up, running as fast as his legs would take him. His longer strides carried him away from the city in mere moments.
Yet the sirens remained constant. It was evident the police were on the boy?s tail. The cub knew he needed somewhere to hide. But the problem was where? The puppy was too big now to just hide anywhere. In the distance, he could see the nearby woods. This was just the spot he was looking for. Making a dash for it, he continued to go as fast as he could. The continued sense of anxiety, about what his parents might do, filling with him with dread as he just wanted the whole thing to be over with.
When he entered into the woods, he haunched over so that he could fit into under the canopy. He was still bigger than most of the trees and the constant sound of sirens in the distance told him he didn?t have much time. The cub knew there was a small valley where he could hide, using the concaves of the earthen pit to hide his presence. Barely fit himself inside when he made it there, waiting casually as the sound of sirens became much louder when he remained idle.
Dan tried to relax as he lay there on the ground. He closed his eyes as he shook in place, regretting the choice he?d made to run
from the police. But in his mind...he knew there was no going back. The boy had to wait for this thing to blow over.
"Dan? Where are you at? You?re father, I, and your siblings, are home early." The boy?s mother spoke to him from the living room.
It was then the puppy remembered that he was in a game. The moment he took his headset off, a sense of relief washed over him. The whole thing had seemed so real. Looking at his hand paws, Dan realized they were just as little as before.
"Coming Mom!? He said, shouting across the room.
The cub would spend the rest of the night with his parents and siblings. After all, it wasn?t every day that they had free time and he wasn?t about to waste that opportunity. When they asked him about his day, the puppy avoided talking about his experience with the headset. Of course, when they asked about it, he told them he was happy with the purchase and avoided going into detail about what happened.
It wouldn?t be until later that night when Dan would return to his computer. The boy was innately curious and wanted to know if he could experience it differently. Perhaps if he did it again...it could end on better terms. Putting the headset back on, he was determined to set things right.
