[Critique Group 1] Pieces are due Wednesday

[Leonard Tuchyner]

Hi group 1. This is to remind you that our pieces are due this Wednesday. Mine is below. It is the first addition to a short stories about Chloe's death.  It is not sad or morose.


Chloe   Stories 1

 

Origins

 

Chloe was adopted from an animal shelter. She was 22 poundsand reportedly full grown. She had been spayed and we were prepared to have atiny dog in our lives. Ha! She ended up being almost 70 pounds which she grewto within a year. We don’t think it was deception on the SPCA’s part. The puppyhad been found walking the streets of Charlottesville. Her feet were bleeding,and she was emaciated. The SPCA fattened her up and put her up for adoption.Diane came around just looking at the right time and adopted the dog, believingshe was almost fully grown. 

It was obvious she had terrier blood because of herwhiskers. Other than that, she was multicolored, flop-eared and built like a hound.

The dog accepted Diane as her human from the start. But wesoon found out that she could not be left alone. She would need human companionshipconstantly. We had a fenced-in back yard with lots of room and a doggie doorwhich she quickly learned to use. The minute we left the premises, she would gooutside and look for a way to escape, which our dog always found. It was amazingwhat she could wiggle through. For example, I wired a gap between the gate andits anchor point. I mean, I completely wired it from top to bottom and thoughtit was fine enough to be bug-proof. Chloe found a way through. I watched her doit. I couldn’t believe my eyes. She was a contortionist.

She often found places under the fence where she could gainegress. Occasionally, Chloe would leave her collar on something as she wiggledunder. When we got hold of her, Diane would ask her where she got out, and sohelp me, she would show her. The collar was always at the place of escape.

There was never a problem in finding where our puppy went.She was always at the next-door neighbor’s house. Alexus would take her in andkeep her until we returned.

Consequently, we knew we had to find her a companion. Wewent to a no-kill sanctuary to find one. The people there were very carefulwith whom they left a dog. They put the prospective adoptee and Chloe in anenclosure together to make sure they got along. The prospect was anotherfemale, and they were careful because females sometimes don’t get along. Therewere some spats, but they seemed to adjust to each other, and Chloe had hercompanion. Or so we thought.

We took Ginger home and soon we felt confident in leaving themalone.

A short time later, we started to go about our businesswithout concern for the two dogs. One day we came home to find Ginger lyingdead in the yard. There wasn’t a mark on her. Chloe’s mouth was rubbed raw bysomething. However, there were no cuts. We thought the two of them were playingand Chloe got stuck on Ginger’s collar. We imagined them both panicking andGinger being strangled by the collar. Or perhaps they got into a fight and thesame scenario was enacted. 

We were back to square one. We had to find a companion forour dog, and this time it had to be a male.




 
 
Leonard I. Tuchyner, Author
 
https://www.dldbooks.com/tuchyner/

 
  
 
 

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