Category: Short Stories

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The Triangle

A rubber double cheeseburger. A soft, orange. fabric basketball. A bright green rubber bone. All squeaky toys. Set them up in a triangle in your largest room, and you’ve created the perfect environment to drive your dog crazy.

Start by visiting each toy once and stepping on it a few times. Then change your rotation, clockwise to counter clockwise. Continue stepping on these items to make loud, shrill, squeaking sounds.

Then get creative. Begin dragging one of these items under your foot, squeaking it with every step. Bring one item (under your foot), to the next item, and change to that new item (under your foot). Different toy, different sound. The dog goes more nuts.

Now get a bit more creative. As you are dragging (and squeaking) one toy, drag another one with your other foot. Dragging both of them and squeaking as you move forward.

If your dog isn’t biting at your ankles (and other parts of your body) by now, you may want to get him/her checked out.

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Snippets

There was a gas station, a block down from the party house. He was far from home, I definitely was far from home. As I walked out of the convenience store, he asked me for money. He just wanted to get back home. Feeling generous, I didn’t offer him money, but a ride. Asked if he wanted to hang out for the night.

He had to go home first. And that involved driving him to his apartment complex. Entering the third floor apartment, I noticed nothing but a single room. No separate doors, not a bathroom, nothing. In the corner sat a toilet and a shower. The area poorly covered by a curtain hanging from the ceiling. He went to get something from his dresser, then asked me “Have you ever heard of a jack?”…I will not answer how I responded. But he left, and came back after about 10 minutes.

We left his apartment, and proceeded to head back to the college house. Down by the gas station. I wanted to get him away from his normal environment, show him that others would respect him just how he is. No need for nonsense or toughness.

I think he enjoyed himself, hanging out that night. Playing pool.

As I dropped him off, he thanked me. Told me that I might have motivated him to reconsider some of his preconceptions. And that made me smile.