Hope is the thing with feathers Mark LaMonda __________ For some reason it seemed that most of what was in our house was either my father’s or my sister’s. My mother had been dead for three years, and my father favored my sister. But, my father did give me an…
Read MoreThe New Human Shelagh Hardrich __________ She heard it before she understood it. A sound like the mountain clearing its throat — low and rolling, wrong in the way thunder was wrong when there was no cloud. She was inside, in the good warm spot near the heating box, and…
Read MoreClues Blues Hunter Cooley __________ “We got ourselves in a rough spot, Ms. Dutchess. Give it to me straight.” Spade barked. “I told you. That’s all I know, Mr. Spade.” “Tuesday. Run me through it.” “I was in bed, sir.” “Out by 2 p.m.? Must have had something on your…
Read MoreThe Empty Veranda Swetha Amit __________ I don’t remember it the way most people do. It comes back in fragments—the heat on my skin, a flash of white paws just out of reach. The rest has been filled in by Ma, who recalls that day as if it never loosened…
Read MoreLetters from the Judges __________ Tara Flaherty Guy It was such a pleasure to read the different prose and poetry selections included in this pet-writing contest, and to consider all of the myriad ways that we human beings interact with the animals in our lives. Though the pieces vary greatly…
Read MoreLetter from the Editor Vallie Lynn Watson __________ Chugs Boudin’s annual pet issue is perhaps the nearest and dearest to my heart. The works are both a joy to read and heartbreakers, every last one of them, because of the nature and duty of our intended relationship to pets: to carry them…
Read MoreThird Annual Pet Writing Contest Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing Editor: Taryn White Associate Editor: Leah Joseph Assistant Editors: Robbie Hess and Jade Turner Intern: Sam Manuel David Waters, “Familiar,” ink and ochre Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letters from the Judges by Tara Flaherty Guy and…
Read MoreThe Iteration of Matrices Cheryl Snell __________ Kittentangledin bedclotheswatches her mistressknead the dough. Stretching itshe folds it, layering it for winter warmth,filling the slimness of nothing with possibilities. Later, when she lifts a cornerof blanket, she’ll discover a single green eyefloating in fabric, switching tailpoking a holeelsewhere. Mapsofnappingcats explaininexplicables─ how…
Read MoreBienvenue Michelle Rose __________ andouille, boudin, cracklins, dirty rice, étouffée, filé, gumbo, jambalaya, on fait lagniappe ici, maque choux, pain perdu, beaucoup roux, c’est si bon, laissez les bons temps rouler rolling off tongues, hands greasy, feet dancing, plates refilled and refilled again, stories told too loud and twice, laughter…
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