This work was published in The Avenue Journal, Issue X: Dogs

Sage
by Carol D. Marsh

I want to tell you about a woman and a dog.

This work was published in The Avenue Journal, Issue X: Dogs

The Green Rose
by Emily Astor

There was once a Dalmatian on a quest to find a green flower. 

This work was published in The Avenue Journal, Issue X: Dogs

I Call Your Name
by Jana Harris

Ali? It’s me, your toxic Mommy. I’m home, making unreasonable demands: Where are you? Upstairs? Why don’t you come down here to the kitchen? How come you just lie on our bed all day, looking depressed? You don’t even put your head up. You always get so excited when Daddy comes home. Me? Hardly an eye blink. Is it because I don’t slather your Milk-Bone treats with Skippy peanut butter? Or because I don’t carry a Ziploc bag of biscuits attached to my belt? (Daddy wouldn’t want to miss a teachable moment in your treat-training regime.) When will you admit that I never-never-never prioritize my wants over your basic needs, huh? When?

This work was published in The Avenue Journal, Issue X: Dogs

Howls In Harmony
by Stephen Sedam

Looking out the fifth-floor hospital window, I see a cold, gray, dull day near the end of a dark, lifeless January. Jay and I have been talking. We are the only ones in the white-walled intensive care room with several beeping monitors and equipment I’ve never seen before. From his bed, my friend looks over to me and says, “I’ve been thinking of ways to kill myself, but then realized I can’t use my hands.”