“This is your dog?” the police officer at the door asked. It was her dog and that scared the bejeezus out of her.
She had been home the entire afternoon folding laundry, feeding the new baby, cooking that evening’s casserole and not once had she noticed that the lovable Labrador wasn’t clumsily sauntering about the house as he usually did.
The lack of sleep seemed to be finally catching up on her and she wasn’t liking it. Ever since her second child had arrived she and her hubby had gotten by on a maximum of three hours rest a night. Baby cramps, the new-born’s constant craving for her mother’s teat and her older sister’s clingy need for attention didn’t leave much room to catch a breath. But she never thought things would get so bad that she’d lose track of the family pet.
How the dog had gotten out was anyone’s guess. They had contemplated taking the baby for a walk in the morning but had abandoned that plan at the last minute. Had the Labrador slipped passed them through the half-open front door during that moment of indecision? Surely she would have felt his lumbering body against her leg? Or his bullwhipping tail?
She felt as if she’d not only let down the dog but also herself. And she wasn’t sure if she would cope better if the kids got older. Surely there’d be other distractions like driving them to music lessons or making sure they weren’t skyping with the neighbour’s no-good boy.
So, as the police officer repeated the question and she stared into her dog’s faithful eyes, she went in full-on denial, answered the cop they must have gotten the wrong owner and closed the front door in the comforting knowledge this would not happen again.
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300 stories 
That is so damn sad and so beautifully written.
I second that comment.
Nice twist and so sad, it leaves you shouting at her through the door.
This is too sad….
wonderful just wonderful sharp and emotional and I was wondering how you would incorporate your signature twist at the end lol
Awwww lol poor puppy! Great ending though, seriously wasn’t expecting her to disown the dog! LOL And might I add a very faithful little snippet of what it’s like to be a very busy Mummy with little ones – especially when their is a new baby in the house – I can so relate 😉
Great finish to the tale, nicely done 🙂
oh I do get her but how sad is it for the woof
I agree with everyone else, that is devastatingly sad. In fact, I’m going to have to go and hug my dog.
I wanted to do this to our dog a few times when the kids were little, just to have one less person dependent on me, but it really hurt to read this!
Nicely done. Kudos.
Very compelling, brings a tear to my eye for the betrayed dog at the end. Very nicely written.
More than one way to skin a cat…
That is one sad ending.
I dropped by to thank you for liking my post, and wow, what a nice surprise!
That’s definitely a different way to end a pet story. Wow. So much impact in so few words.
That ending was not expected, and that’s what I like about it.
Nooo! 😦
To be honest, I’m a little confused by your story. Did that dog really belong to the lady that was narrating the story? If it did why would she turn her back on the dog she loved so much? I was ready to say that your story talked well about what our pets mean to us, but then the confusion set in.
The dog belonged to the lady, but she disowns it to ease her troubled mind.
I was not expecting that ending. Stumped. In a good way though.