Your neighbor’s the one that starts the whole thing. He’s got a friend at the newspaper, he says, always on the lookout for human interest stories and your dog, he says, would fit the bill. But the dog’s not human,… Continue Reading
When she told me the dog was empty, I was shocked. “I fed him only this morning”, I insisted, “and he ate everything.” The vet lifted both halves of the dog in turn, shaking each open end over the examination… Continue Reading
The phone meowed twice. It had never made that noise before. Why would anyone call at three a.m.? Eric picked it up, but there was nobody there. Mr. Ruffles stopped licking his fur and stood on his two hind paws.… Continue Reading
The phone rang at 2:21 a.m. I will never forget it. One doesn’t forget moments like that. I had grown accustomed to your calls coming at odd hours, but we talked just yesterday. Even in my slumber, I knew you… Continue Reading
They chewed. Mouths closed, looking down, they chewed. Each had a fork poised, eyes on their plates, choosing the next bite. He was first, speared a large piece of stringy meat, and scraped it into his mouth over his teeth,… Continue Reading
Adele wept. She was re-reading Peach’s email: “Dear Mother, I REFUSE to enable you any longer to believe that my childhood was HAPPY!!!!” In the long, long paragraph that followed, Peach recounted Adele’s many failings; explained that with the help… Continue Reading
Koggie, the 10,034th descendant of the original bio-engineered cat-dog prototype, sat on an ornate garden bench in the upstairs arboretum of the autonomous house and yawned as she watched the robs scurrying about like a plague of mice on their… Continue Reading
There once lived a lazy basset hound named Alexander who loved nothing better than eating, washing his paws, and daydreaming about chasing hares. Successfully snaring a hare, however, remained only a fantasy for, unlike most of his breed, Alexander was… Continue Reading
We were in my office. The old dog lay in Simon’s lap. “She’s been with me twenty years,” he said. “Seems like forever.” He had been bringing her to my clinic for three years. “You got her while you were… Continue Reading
The lights are back on. I don’t guess it makes much difference outside right now but at least I can get back to writing. The market is a mess, soldiers everywhere, as if soldiers can do anything after the fact.… Continue Reading