Pet Shop Blues

"I was not ready the day you gave me your heart. I was still falling apart."

In the cold mist of the black December I clopped and clopped with my mother's old shoes along the soaking sidewalk, far ahead of my sibling thing. Christmas lights shone through rain droplets or tears and came through bright in the mist. I walked and walked until I saw the pine trees and the shops with more lights. I saw the pet shop, and it was open after its normal hours. The windows, large and clear, were lit up bright with golden Christmas bulbs and I saw some stirring furry things mucking about in the blankets. They were puppies. I approached the window and I caught their attention, but they kept on tossing themselves around or sitting pensively. There was one and she was bleeding from her paw. The blood was strewn about the sanitized white floor of the window. A dog with blood on his lips stood in the corner. He looked not ashamed and he ate his kibble and drank his tap water. My brother jogged up and I pointed out the poor thing to him, licking its wounds. He was a problem dog. She was eating now her one piece of dirtied-up, discarded kibble. You have a bowl of that right near you, girl! What's wrong? Oh. He is over there. I'm sorry. Come here. I hope you don't bite. Stale was their food and I was just a kid with a belly full of spaghetti and meatballs and pitying them. My mom can't handle another puppy. My dad can't handle another puppy. My brother gave a cursory glance, remarked, and stepped on.

A minute must have passed and I was still looking with puppy eyes at the puppy eyes of the bloodied little pup. She seemed okay, though. Maybe puppies can hide their emotions too. Well, here I was standing there in the mild rain and I did not move an inch. I was still looking.
"LUKE!" from across the street. The pine trees waited patiently.
"Bye little pup. Feel better."
I stood there, knowing well about the dangers of walking through traffic. I walked backwards until I felt a curb, but I think I must have fell or something because the ground came up and smacked me in the back of the head. Brakes on the cars screamed at me for it. My eyes, still and forward, still looked for the puppy and loved and yearned for the dog and the puppy. Red and white. Then red and white and blue. Then the White. All the puppies were for me and they were there around me looking at me and licking my cheeks. Well, here I am and I am surrounded by puppies. Yeah, who needs that when you got this? Sigh, well that was the last I saw of her, though. Such nice things. Always looking, always smiling. heh. let me go. thank you.


This is the night and we are here with the other stars shining stupid lights but no one can touch us because we are hot and balls of gas!

O, Puppies! O, Humanity!

Come back, Georgia. Come back.