A quote: “Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.” ~~ Robert A. Heinlein
Yes, friends, another repeat. I return from vacation next week and original stories will resume! Let this inspire some new stories from you. As always, I look forward to reading them.
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“MAMAW!”
I was on the farside of the house tending the kitchen garden and Bethie’s high-pitched screech still made me wince.
Bethie rounded the corner, breathless, “Dusty’s gone! He doesn’t come when I call.”
“Calm down, girl. He might be off moping. Poor pup does that every time Jimmy’s out with Patrol.”
I remember when Jimmy first came home with Dusty … the tiny puppy curled inside Jimmy’s jacket. A little, lame runt rejected by his mom.
The two had that in common.
And just as when his dad brought him home here with us, Dusty thrived with Jimmy’s love and attention.
“Come on, Bethie,” I waved at her to follow and we walked down to the river, “I know you promised your cousin you’d watch over Dusty. So you gotta know his favorite place.”
The path wound through summer grasses into the cool shade of wetland trees. An old wood boat tied up to a small, makeshift dock. Countless hours Jimmy would go off fishing with Dusty sitting in the bow.
I made a sharp whistle and a furry head popped up, eyes expectant, looking for Jimmy.
I felt my heart thump. “You and me, pup. You and me.”
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Now, it’s your turn.
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. featured image, cropped, Adobe Stock standard license.
Eleanor Carrol turned out to be stronger than I’d expected. Although I would’ve happily taken her statement on her father’s demise, she insisted on coming with me to deliver it in person.
“If the Kitties have questions, this saves you the trouble of coming back here to get the answers.” She swallowed hard, no doubt against the memory of what had happened to her father. “And if that was one of the Lobsters’ weapons or spybots, there may be more lurking around here. I’d rather be somewhere else.”
“OK, but first I’d like to take a look at the actual site of the attack, get some pictures and scans while it’s fresh.” At her look of alarm, I added, “I have equipment that can detect Lobster tech. It’s part of my being deputized, and it’ll give us an alarm before we’re close enough to be in danger.”
Or at least that’s what the Kitties told told me, I didn’t say aloud.
Eleanor shook her head. “I don’t think you understand. That was three days ago. The time it takes to get into town and back out isn’t going to make enough difference to matter. And to be perfectly honest, I’d just as soon get away from my memories and off to somewhere with people so I don’t brood.:
So that’s how I ended up calling in one of the Kitties’ flitters to retrieve Eleanor and Rusty. And as it turned out, they were actually happy that I’d called straight in rather than take a look around. Apparently the Lobsters had planted another device not far away from where Mr. Carrol had been murdered.
(This is a continuation of my stories of August 2, 2024 and April 5, 2025)
Wombat Lace says: People.
I hear People!
I’d slept in the old fishing boat, making a good dinner on the remains of some fisherman’s lunch. I was trying to find my people, the family who called me “Buddy” and who I got separated from on a long car trip. So now I was heading HOME.
I listened. I like People but it pays to be careful, like Mama always said.
Hmmm. Growns and Littles. I like the Littles. The Shining Ones are always close to them. I don’t know much about the Shining Ones, only that they’re good.
Some Growns have the Shining Ones close by, too, but there are usually more Shadows around them. Shadows are bad.
The sound of a Little nearby made me look up. Ahh…chasing a butterfly… but where were her Shining Ones? And what were those things in front of her? SHADOWS! Leading her to the river!
I jumped out of the boat, ran barking in front of her, trying scare the Shadows while not scaring her. She stopped. A Shining One swooped down, tackling the Shadows while somehow turning her around as a Mama came running and scooped her up.
The Shadows disappeared. The Shining One turned to me.
“GOOD BOY! Let’s get you HOME!”
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