Tag Archives: pets

CAROL REEVES: Real Pets

Submissions, Touching, ,

Mom was allergic to “fur-throwing” animals. Bright yellow canaries sang us through an otherwise ideal childhood. My children will have Real Pets, I resolved—dogs, cats and hamsters. And they did. Curiously, when the nest was empty, I got Tickles, a sweet pink canary, and it’s he whose memory lingers.

A prolific writer, Carol Reeves is loving the freedom and challenge of Flash Fiction. She is frequently published in Flash Fiction Magazine and 50 Word Stories. Her memoir, “All the Little Miracles,” was published in 2022.

DAVID DEZELL TURNER: Lessons in Chihuahua History

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

“You’re so ornery, Zara,” said Emily, adjusting the chihuahua’s translator.

“It’s in my blood,” Zara retorted.

“Your ancestors were little brats, too?”

“Brats? They ruled the Ice Age! Battled saber-toothed cats! Hunted for—”

“Their own food?”

Zara sheepishly eyed the treat jar. “Some traditions are best left in the past.”

David Dezell Turner is an astrodynamics PhD student at the University of Colorado Boulder. When he isn’t giving directions to real spaceships, he’s writing about fictional ones. Check out more of his work at daviddezellturner.com.

BEATRICE RAO: The Healer

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , , , , ,

I was resting in the park
when he came over.

Wary of strays,
I tried to shoo him away.

He edged nearer
asking for a rub and then
started showing off.

He galloped on his three legs
Danced with the leaves

I picked up my crutches
And started following him.

Beatrice Rao likes observing the stray dogs in Mumbai and listening to their stories.

MICHAEL THEROUX: Cats on the Back Deck

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Cats on the back deck voice hot contention, breaking in on my dreams. I yell for Quiet…

Considering their request, a thought weighs in even as I roll back over: Is God this callous?

Perhaps the Eternal wakes to my own howl, weighs the irritating thought, and rolls back over.

Michael Theroux writes from his cubby-hole home office in Northern California. Michael is presently shifting from decades of developing and publishing science-based socio-political works toward publication of poetry and fiction. Much more satisfying…

AJ JOSEPH: Year of the Rabbit

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

It took years of planning. They’d reproduced until their numbers tripled humanity’s population, and they’d learn to sharpen their teeth on their enclosures. At midnight on the 22nd of January, bunnies around the globe broke free from their cages, ready to inflict harm.

Welcome to the year of the rabbit.

AJ Joseph tweets very short stories and other random thoughts (mostly about living with pets) as @sonobeus.

KEN GOSSE: The Caring and the Tearing of the Tats

Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

Already
bearing my
cat’s deep and
deadly tats,
each day I
feed him he
gives me scant
hope. Perhaps
I’ll survive
just as I’ve
knavishly
loved his pats,
making me
neurotic,
overtly
psychotic,
questioning
rhapsodic,
sonorous
tones of his
unearthly
voice. Still, I
wonder why.

Xeroxed scars;
YouTube stars
zigzagging.

Ken Gosse prefers writing short, rhyming, humorous poetry. First published in First Literary Review–East in November 2016, he has also been published by Pure Slush, Home Planet News Online, 50Word Stories, and other publications. Raised in the Chicago suburbs, now retired, he and his wife have lived with dogs and cats underfoot in Mesa, AZ, over twenty-five years.

What Happens In The Box, Stays In The Box

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

The door of the pet shop opened, and the scientist entered. Mabel shuddered. The man was a friend of the boss, but she couldn’t help wonder what happened to all the pets he bought.

As he approached, Mabel gave him her best fake smile.

“Another cat, is it, Mr Schrodinger?”

Bill lives in Aberdeen, Scotland, where he exists in a state of quantum uncertainty until such time as somebody actually reads his work.

MARIA CARGILLE: Constants

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

He sits before the door expectantly, tail swishing. The door doesn’t open, will never open. Inside is off limits.

I sigh, empathy swirling through me. “Come on, bud,” I mutter, lifting my protesting cat up and away.

He’s not the only one to obsess over what he can’t have.

Maria is fascinated by the similarities of emotion across species, time, and place. She misses her cats a lot.

PATRICK YU: Time for the daily walk

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

My dog waits at the door
Outside he’s in his element

His charismatic smile
A beacon
For everyone to greet him
He thrives on affection

Times have changed

His disappointed eyes look back
For an explanation
There is no affection from six feet?

How surreal
The virus
And its implications

After 42 years of working with industrial computers, robots, and automation, Patrick Yu has retired. While not ideal times, he looks forward to his many hobbies, one of which is writing.

CADENCE RAGE: Forever

Submissions, Touching, , ,

Nahla watched warily as they unpacked her belongings: bowl, leash, collar. Sooner or later, she’d have to move again. It never lasted.

A child scrambled forward, wrapping her in a welcoming hug. Warmth, unlike any other, flooded Nahla’s chest.

How long can I stay? she searched.

Forever, his eyes answered.

Cadence Rage is a musician, animal rights activist, and caffeine-addicted weaver of speculative fiction. She publishes flash fiction and hilarious observations at cadencerage.wordpress.com. Find her on social media @cadencerage.