A beloved dog is dying, and oh, by the way, the world might die too.
"One morning, some neighborhood dog was barking, and I was asked to make sure it wasn't Roxie. Peering out the dining room window, I found a beautiful red-and-white husky dancing on the patio, happy as can be.
"'It's not yours,' I reported.
"Even burdened with the heavy chain, Roxie had killed a squirrel, and now she was happily flinging the corpse into the air and catching it again. The game was delicious fun until the limp squirrel fell out of reach, and then the wailing began. I got dressed and found a shovel in the garage, and when I picked up her prize by its tail, the dog leaped happily. Oh, I was saving her day! But with the first spade of earth, she saw my betrayal for what it was, and the wailing grew exponentially.
"Two nights later, I got a call for help. Again, her dog had killed an animal. My girlfriend didn't know what kind; despite being a farmer's kid, she has an exceptionally weak stomach, and she didn't want to look too closely. But if I could drop over and take care of the situation ...
"It was late and I was tired. But I stopped by that next afternoon, when no humans were home. A half-grown opossum was baking in the sun. Using my growing puddle of wisdom, I gave my girlfriend's dog a quick walk and put her inside before burying the bloated body. Then I let Roxie back out on her chain, and she hurried to the spot where the opossum had been, sniffing and digging, and then flinging herself down on her back to roll on the ripe, wondrous ground."
Robert Reed has published an abundance of stories, short and long. "Roxie" was written in honor of a difficult, wondrous friend, who just happened to be a husky dog.
Genre: Science Fiction
"One morning, some neighborhood dog was barking, and I was asked to make sure it wasn't Roxie. Peering out the dining room window, I found a beautiful red-and-white husky dancing on the patio, happy as can be.
"'It's not yours,' I reported.
"Even burdened with the heavy chain, Roxie had killed a squirrel, and now she was happily flinging the corpse into the air and catching it again. The game was delicious fun until the limp squirrel fell out of reach, and then the wailing began. I got dressed and found a shovel in the garage, and when I picked up her prize by its tail, the dog leaped happily. Oh, I was saving her day! But with the first spade of earth, she saw my betrayal for what it was, and the wailing grew exponentially.
"Two nights later, I got a call for help. Again, her dog had killed an animal. My girlfriend didn't know what kind; despite being a farmer's kid, she has an exceptionally weak stomach, and she didn't want to look too closely. But if I could drop over and take care of the situation ...
"It was late and I was tired. But I stopped by that next afternoon, when no humans were home. A half-grown opossum was baking in the sun. Using my growing puddle of wisdom, I gave my girlfriend's dog a quick walk and put her inside before burying the bloated body. Then I let Roxie back out on her chain, and she hurried to the spot where the opossum had been, sniffing and digging, and then flinging herself down on her back to roll on the ripe, wondrous ground."
Robert Reed has published an abundance of stories, short and long. "Roxie" was written in honor of a difficult, wondrous friend, who just happened to be a husky dog.
Genre: Science Fiction
Used availability for Robert Reed's Roxie