Written in twenty minutes by Chris Beryl from this writing prompt: “He Turned the Key in the Lock and Opened the Door”
He turned the key in the lock and opened the door. To his horror, he saw a huge dog and three puppies.
“What…where did these come from ? We’re not keeping them you know. Oh no…”
“Daddy daddy, we found them in a field. Someone forgot them. They left them in a box. They were crying Daddy.”
” Left them in field my …. Dumped them more likely” he said under his breath.
He looked at his children. They were delirious with joy.
Jack and Patricia sat on the carpet and each had a puppy they petted and kissed.
Bobby couldn’t take his eyes off the mother who was sprawled on the floor feeding the third puppy. His wife was in the kitchen, he heard pots and pans and the screaming whistling kettle ready for her tea. She was avoiding him. Probably laughing her head off.
” Daddy Daddy, can we keep them? Oh please Daddy.”
“I have to see your mother…” He muttered.
Stepping over the dogs, he arrived in the kitchen and met the back of his wife, pretending to be busy at the sink.
“Okay Helen. Tell me what’s going on. We can’t keep four dogs.”
She turned, a big smile lit up her face. She loved animals and had lost every battle with him about having pets.
“You’ll have to tell them then. I’m not. Look how happy they are. These dogs would end up at the SPCA which is already overflowing, likely they’d be put down. But I’m not taking these dogs away from the kids.”
“It’s ridiculous. Four dogs.”
“So divorce us.”
He stared hard at his wife. Then turned to look at his children. The happy chatter and noise from the living room would turn into howls and sobs if he so much as moved to put them back in the empty cardboard box, now a crushed mess in the corner of the room.
His wife had that gladiator look about her. She’d squared her shoulders, legs planted on the old linoleum floor, eyes flashing. He could almost see the bronze gleam of her helmet, her arm threaded through the embossed shield.
Oh boy, he wasn’t going to win this one.
”Right. Right. I see your point.”
” Daddy Daddy, can we keep them? Please Daddy.”
I must be nuts, he thought, as he nodded his head and said “Yes, of course you can keep them.”
Deafening shrieks and screams came from his kids. He couldn’t help but smile. Oh well, he sighed, just more chaos and expense.
He turned to Helen. ” Give me a list, I’ll go to the pet store.”
(c) C. Beryl 2016
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