7 Stories: Animal Tales (suggested theme)

An animal story to get you thinking about this month's theme:

From the moment my husband said he wanted to get a dog, I made it clear where I stood: I don’t want a dog. I don’t want the responsibility. I don’t want to be tied down. I don’t want the mess. I don’t want a dog. Just in case, he fenced in the back yard.

I stood firm: I don’t want a dog. I really don’t want a dog. He bought dog toys and a bed at the Big Lots closeout sale. He watched YouTube videos on training dogs. He read books on dogs.

I figured he’d lose interest like he does with hobbies, but just to be clear, I reminded him: I don’t want a dog.

One day he said a couple from Tacoma looking for a new home for their dog wanted to come over. I said I didn’t want a dog, and he asked that I not tell them that and just let him check out the dog. When the dog came up the stairs, I thought uh oh, she’s really cute. I was polite and served tea. The woman wanted to take Fluffy out in back, and my husband said fine but made it clear she shouldn’t take her off the leash. The woman lasted about a minute before taking it off, and Fluffy ran off and found the one spot that looked like it was fenced in but in fact led to a staircase to the neighbor’s chicken coop. Uh oh!

We ran out in front and over to the neighbor’s yard calling for Fluffy, but she was nowhere to be found. I got in the car and drove around the neighborhood looking for her as did her owners. My husband ran up and down the street calling for her. Did I mention it was raining?

After 15 frantic minutes, an Amazon driver found Fluffy in his truck and returned her to us. The owners came in to get their belongings and couldn’t get away fast enough saying they’d be in touch. After a few days we got word that Fluffy was going to a child in their area. I felt it was a narrow escape.

Months later my husband said he was going to see a dog in a park. The owners were looking for a new home and had been in touch via a dog chat site. He came back and said it was the most scared dog he’d ever seen with her tail tucked way inside her legs so it looked like she didn’t even have a tail. A few days later he asked if she could come for the weekend. The scared dog? You want her to come for the weekend? Why?

For whatever reason, he felt he wanted to see her in our house, and when I saw an enormous dog with long white hair come in, I wasn’t pleased, but I went along with it. For the most part I ignored her as the piles of white hair multiplied all over the house. When the owners came to get her, they said they were going to Europe for a week and would put her in a kennel. Without even asking me, my husband said we’d take her, and a few days later she was back with her bed, toys, and grooming instruments. I asked him what was so appealing about this dog, and he said she was well behaved, didn’t chew on furniture or shoes, went outside to do her business, and didn’t bark incessantly. I had to admit those were all plusses.

She took a shine to me and before I knew it, I was petting her and hugging her, singing her songs, taking her for walks and falling in love with this enormous dog with long white hair that accumulates with astonishing speed. When the family returned from Europe, we told them we wanted her, and four months later, I’m gaga about this animal who, if I’m honest, had me at “Woof” and the gaze of her beautiful brown eyes.

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• Stories must be true.
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