Directly inspired by this old Wolfram
Thanks to u/RoachQueen32 for posting her archive. There were some in there I’d not seen, this included.
. … … … … …
“Hot dog, I already told you. You can’t be stomping around while daddy is working. It’s distracting.”
“Bu…bu daddeh!” The distressed fluffy whined. “Ou am wowking fow suuuuuuuu wong! Hoddawg bowed! Wan pway! Can gu back tu safewoom wif toysies?” His owner scowled. “Oh, so you only want to be around me when it’s fun for you? What about me, Hot Dog? What about my needs?” Hot Dog puffed his cheeks. “Daddeh nu say meanie tings bow Hoddawg! Hoddawg awways wub daddeh, but Hoddawg nu can du nuffin in hewe! Daddeh awways say am tuu wowd! Nu wan tawkies wif Hoddawg! Nu faiw! Daddeh nu eben wook at Hoddawg! Wet Hoddawg gu pway!”
His owner stood up. “Fine.” His icy tone concerned Hot Dog, but he was satisfied he’d been heard out. Daddeh brought him to his saferoom and left him there with all his toys and nummies.
…
The next day, daddeh came to Hot Dog with a box. “Wat in boxie, bestest daddeh? Am nyu fun toysies fow daddeh an Hoddawg? Wub pway wif daddeh!” He shook his head gravely. “No, Hot Dog. You made me sad yesterday because you love walking more than you love daddy. This is a tool to make you love daddy more.” Hot Dog was puzzled. “But…but Hoddawg aweddy wub daddeh bigges ebah! Nu wike wawkie and wunny mowe den daddeh, but daddeh nu was doin nuffin wif Hoddawg!”
His owner ignored him while he set up the thing he’d bought. It was a maypole with retractible leashes coming out of the top. He anchored the base to the floor and attached a leash to Hot Dog’s collar. “Wat dis, daddeh? Nyu game?”
“No, Hot Dog. It’s a FluffyRunner.” He didn’t understand, so his daddy continued. “The pole is gonna turn. While it turns, it’ll let more and more leash out so it doesn’t pull you. But eventually it will run out. When that happens, you’ll have to keep up. It moves about half your brisk walking pace, so you ought to be able to keep ahead if it starts dragging you, but daddeh isn’t going to unhook you until tomorrow night when we watch movies. This is for your own good.”
The confused Hot Dog thanked his daddeh, as he hadn’t fully understood the explanation. No matter, he’d figure it out. Hia father left him to his thoughts.
There was enough leash to easily go anywhere, so Hot Dog didn’t mind at first. He went to his nummie bowl, played blockies, and then sat for an hour watching FluffTV. But after an hour, he was pulled over backwards. The slack had caught up.
Hot Dog found himself being pulled. Slowly, but he was being pulled nonetheless. It took about ninety minutes to go from fully slack to fully extended, not that he understood that. “Huu nu wan make wawkies nao Mistah Sticky Wope Fwend! Wan watch teebee an take nappies!” But the pole rotated onward.
Hot Dog was dumb, so every time he’d catch up by more than a few seconds, he’d think he’d convinced the meany rope to leave him alone. Every time he was wrong.
Hours passed. Eventually he figured out that walking a lot meant he got to rest a lot, so he did. He walked DOZENS of laps around the pole. Ironically, he made it as hard as he could. Because he was scared of the pole and wanted it to let go, he refused to get close. He was always pulling away as far as he could.
So every lap was the largest it could possibly be.
By the time his daddeh came in to read him a bedtime story, he was exhausted. He wanted so badly to sleep, to even lie down for more than a few minutes. As he’d trudged on he’d gotten slower. As a result, his walking put him less and less ahead. Now his legs were shaking and his fluff was drenched in sweat and tears. There were streaks by the litterbox where he’d clearly been making good poopies when he was yanked away. The litterbox, much like his bed and toybox and food and tv, is by a wall. Far away from the pole at the center of the room.
"Haf…haf…haf…Da…daddeh…Hoddawg…Hoddawg su…tiwed…" The panting fluffy was shuffling along on hooves that had clearly been rubbed raw by his transition from full stepping to exhausted dragging of his legs. His hooves were barely leaving the ground, and his back hooves were starting to bleed. “Jus wan…jus wan stahp…wan siddown…wan sweeeeep huhuhuuuu…”
Daddy shook his head. “Sorry bud, I told you. Tomorrow night. Sweet dreams.” Daddy turned and left. Hot Dog tried to follow, tried to apologize, but daddy shut the door. Hot Dog collapsed on his tummy, a wet sobbing heap.
Then the line caught, and slowly drug him away.
"Huhuhu nuuuuuu uuuuuu…"