by Karen Duvall
Having pets has its advantages and disadvantages. Young pets are like babies. They explore, get into mischief, teethe… Yeah. Well, sometimes they don’t grow out of their childhood habits.
I have a full grown cat and a full grown dog who still act like a kitten and a puppy respectively. Days go by without a mishap, and then BOOM, it’s massive destruction. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, erupting volcanoes… okay, so I’m exaggerating. I’m a writer and I can’t help it. But these two are like furry natural disasters waiting to happen.
Sammy (my cat): You are in soooo much trouble.
Kinsey (my dog): Hangs head in shame
Sammy: I can’t believe how mad Dad got. He was speechless. That’s never happened before.
Kinsey: I wagged my tail to show him I was sorry.
Sammy: You and your stupid ball. You just had to knock over one of Dad’s most beloved cactuses, didn’t you? You know how much he treasures those plants.
Kinsey: I didn’t mean it. It was an accident.
Sammy: Shakes head and looks disappointed.
Kinsey: Hey, don’t act all innocent. You’ve knocked over your fair share of plants yourself.
Sammy: But I’m much, much, much smaller than you. I don’t do half the damage.
Kinsey: Oh yeah? Not only do you constantly knock plants over, I’ve seen you use the pots as a litterbox.
Sammy: Looks left and right. Shhh. No one was supposed to see that.
Kinsey: Well, I saw. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Sammy: Lifts her nose in the air. Not my fault. It was instinct.
Kinsey: Mom is still trying to vaccum all the dirt out of the carpet.
Sammy: I didn’t mean to cause trouble. You know I hate sharing a litterbox with my brothers. I simply won’t do it.
Kinsey: Yet you have the nerve to shame me for making a mistake?
Sammy: Mutters. Sorry.
Kinsey: What was that? I couldn’t hear you. I think I have dirt in my ear.
Sammy: Hisses. I said I’m sorry!
Kinsey: Whips ears back and forth. Okay, okay. I believe you.
Awkward silence.
Kinsey: Well, I’m sorry too.
Sammy: What can we do to make it up to Mom and Dad?
Kinsey: Looks thoughtful. Look cute?
Sammy: Nods. Works for me.
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Karen Duvall is an award-winning author with 4 published novels and 2 novellas. Harlequin Luna published her K
night’s Curse series last year, and her post apocalyptic novella, Sun Storm, was released in Luna’s ‘Til The World Ends anthology in January 2013.
Karen lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and four incredibly spoiled pets. She is currently working on a new contemporary fantasy romance series.
http://www.karenduvallauthor.com/
https://twitter.com/KarenDuvall
http://www.facebook.com/Karen.Duvall.Author
Oh thank goodness cute usually works! Puppy is very glad to be able to fall back on this in our house.
Yep, cuteness has saved their tail many a time. 🙂
Cute even works for Katie Cat. She falls over on the floor, turns on her side, tilts her head almost upside down, and gives me these little chirping sounds. We call it her “winsome look,” and it works every time, no matter what she’s done.
They’re all little con artists, I tell you. They know just the right heart string to tug.