Manifest Destiny by Zach Daniel

Author:Zach Daniel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Made for Success
Published: 2022-09-07T14:14:46+00:00

Chapter 12

I awoke to a gnarly stench. A search of my apartment revealed its origin; Buster had left a surprise for me. A couple of hot steaming turds lay on my decorative rug while Buster sat nearby staring at me with a dumb look of innocence.

“Dammit!” This was not how I wanted to start my day.

“Shoo! Go!” He scrambled to miss a soft kick coming his way. He was already trained, for Pete’s sake. This wasn’t supposed to happen anymore.

Mumbling obscenities, I got on my hands and knees to clean up the excrement. During the maneuver around the stain, my right knee had become damp, even though I was confident I hadn’t cleaned that area yet. I stretched my knee up to my nose.

“Buster, you son of a—”

Then it dawned on me that I had been gone all yesterday. And when I came back, I forgot to let him out for the bathroom. With no one to blame but myself, I stopped my tirade and assured him it was okay. I was sorry about not getting him outside. He seemed to understand through my reaffirming tone and soon returned within arm’s reach. I hoped for no stains, but after soaking for a night, I didn’t hold my breath.

After I was satisfied with my cleanup, a walk was in order to make up for the neglect. My immediate area wasn’t ideal for pets with its concentration of people and limited green space. Therefore, I tried to hustle Buster along until we made it to Cyrus Park, where things were less chaotic.

I had brought a Frisbee along, hoping Buster could actually retrieve it. So far, he had about a 10 percent success rate. The problem was either he would get the Frisbee and lay down so he could chew on it, or he would bring it back but refuse to drop it. Grabbing for it made it worse because then it turned into a game of “keep away.” I never won that battle without breaking a sweat.

Once exhausted and defeated, he would nuzzle up and grace me with the beat-up Frisbee. I was feeling hopeful for this session, though, and with the park relatively empty, I was really going to launch the saucer. A gorgeous day was upon us as we took the field.

“Buster, please just make this easy.”

His tongue hung out the side of his mouth as he slobbered on himself. This was my stallion. I wound up and let the disk fly. Immediately, Buster bolted down the field, slowly gaining ground on the Frisbee. With a leap, he just missed grabbing it. So close. I anticipated that he wouldn’t bring it back and began toward him, but to my surprise, he started trotting back, Frisbee in his mouth. Before he could reach me, however, he stopped. Something on the ground caught his attention. Without hesitation, he preceded to nip at the mystery substance.

“Buster, you dummy,” I cursed under my breath.

I jogged up to him just in time to slap half a hot dog out of his mouth.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.