This is an original short story I wrote after being challenged by a friend to write a story using the word "nefarious." which is another word for wicked or monstrous.

His Name Is Nefarious

His name was Nefarious but he never understood why. As he looked at his reflection in the mirror he didn't think he looked "nefarious" at all. Most people who didn't know him had claimed that he looked pretty darn cute. Nefarious could agree as he stared at his beautiful white fur. He was covered all over in white fur with the exception of brown patches on his ears. He looked like his mother but he had his father's spirit they said.

Nefarious wagged his tale and barked in excitement. He couldn't remember when he'd been given his name exactly. He did recall that the first day his humans had brought him home he didn't have a name. He was called "Bad Dog" for a while after he had eaten the man's shoes. All he wanted was a drink of water but he couldn't understand why the human woman got angry at him for drinking it out of the big white container in the bathroom. Sometimes all he wanted was a little snack but his people would get upset when the tiny girl would give him Cheerios at the kitchen table.

When they started calling him Nefarious, he didn't know that was his name at first. When he chased the neighbors cat up a tree they kept screaming the word at him but he didn't realize it was his name. Nor did he realize it when got yelled at when he got excited and had an accident on the kitchen floor. He finally realized that was his name when tiny metal circle with the word on it was put on his collar. He could see his name gleaming back at him in the mirror. He sure was a handsome devil.

He didn't know what the word "Nefarious" meant. He guessed it meant something really awesome though. He was the only dog on the block that could tunnel out of his fenced in yard. He was also great at hide and seek and his humans would look for hours for him and would never know he was hiding in the bushes in front of the house. The pup smiled and looked at himself in the mirror, admiring his strong paws and beautiful fur. Yes, Nefarious had to mean something grand and fit him perfectly.

Can you write a short story using the word "nefarious?"

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