Rivalry

 

The ancient terrier sleeps, the treasure tucked under her chin. After a while, she turns onto her side, and the treasure rolls quietly away.

In the living room, the young dog’s ears perk up, and he stealthily creeps into the bedroom.

He grabs the treasure and returns to the sofa.

When the terrier wakes up, she frantically searches till she spies the treasure in between her rival’s stork legs. He winks at her, smugly.

She bides her time around the corner till he gets up to get a drink.

When he returns, both the terrier and the treasure are gone.

 

Bookworm

 

She had set up her camp a little back from the edge of the drop-off, because the view was incredible.

Her dinner had been simple, and she kept the fire going for company.

With her back up against a towering pine tree, she opened her book in the afternoon sunshine.

She was almost finished, and it was building to an exciting ending.

But the birds were singing and the breeze caressed her to sleep.

She woke with a start, and her book tumbled over the cliff, catching on an exposed root just beyond her reach.

“Dammit. I hate a cliffhanger.”

Fair

 

He remembered the Fair as being magical when he was a kid, but it was dirty and hot and there was a pervasive smell of animal poop and greasy food.

He decided to have a good time, since his kids really did think it was magical.

He gazed lovingly at his boys, all sticky with deep-fried rubber cement faces, and each holding a baggie with a stuffed toy in it. He’d spent almost $50 throwing darts at goldfish to get them.

On their way out, he took a photo of them saddled up on chickens, grinning from eye to eye.

Auction

 

They ran them through in groups of five or six, nervous little creatures that skittered into the holding pen, and then bolted out as soon as the auctioneer hollered, “Sold!” and the gate was opened.

She watched, not interested, until…

A group skittered in, but one stayed hunched over instead of pacing back and forth. Looking closely, she saw them, the tiny feet underneath the furry body. This one had babies, and they were expecting her to keep up with the rest. The mother’s eyes rolled with fear and before she knew it, her hand was in the air.

“Sold!”

Judgement

 

One of the many things he loved about living in the woods was the absence of other humans.

Thinking back on his working life, it amazed him that he’d survived without going completely crazy.

Humans are noisy, dramatic, petty, nosy creatures. It was exhausting figuring out what his actions or reactions should be from day to day, because it depended on nothing except the whimsy and emotions of the humans around him.

At least here in the forest, animals and plants were straightforward and predictable. They had no agenda and assessed no judgements.

Then, he looked down and saw it.

Apology

 

Staring into the lit candle, she whispered, “I’m so sorry, Gomez.”

She heard him, right next to her, softly into her ear. “It’s OK, my angel.”

“No, it’s not” she was almost in tears. “I timed this trip so I could be on a beautiful beach in Costa Rica on your birthday. So *we* could be on a beautiful beach in Costa Rica on your birthday. I booked it over a year ago, and then that stupid winter storm shut down the airport and I couldn’t go.”

“It’s really OK, Caramia. I’m there now. You’re right. It’s beautiful.”

“You asshole.”

Cattle

 

“What the Sam Hell?” he said out loud, staring at his empty field.

He should have been looking at his herd of cattle, milling around the gate, waiting for their breakfast.

But they weren’t there.

He quickly walked the fenceline to see if the fence was down. It was not.

Getting more perplexed by the minute, he looked for signs that someone had come in with a trailer and stolen them overnight, but the ground just inside and outside of the gate was undisturbed except for the tracks his truck had just made.

Then he looked up and whispered, “Aliens.”