Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 1 Volume 8 | Page 15

T HE C HRISTMAS G IFT
A S HORT S TORY BY K EITH B ETTINGER
Labrador in need of a bath
I was babysitting my son’s dog – Penelope
Pitbull on December 23. Like all hardworking
females, Penelope was in desperate need of a
manicure just before Christmas. I loaded her in
the car and drove her to large Petsmart just
down the street from our house.
Penelope and I walked to the beauty par-
lor section. There the manicurist suggested to
us the options that were available and it was
decided that Penelope would have her nails
done via grinding as opposed to clipping.
A slight problem developed during the
manicure, Penelope is ticklish and was jump-
ing around while I tried to reassure her that
everything was alright.
While we were surviving the manicure, customers tomers were coming in to
pick up or drop off their pets for grooming. As we stood there waiting for Penel-
ope’s manicure to be completed, another potential customer came through the
door. With her was a large black female Labrador Retriever. The dog was a bun-
dle of positive energy. Although she looked kind of goofy, she radiated love and
she looked like she was smiling.
The lady who brought the dog in said, “I just rescued this dog and she’s in
need of a bath.”
The employees asked if the woman had the dog’s list of vaccines and shots,
and if she couldn’t provide it, they would be unable to bring this loving dog into
contact with the others there for grooming.
The lady told the groomers, “No problem. I will try and get the paperwork
from the people. I just got her tonight, and if I didn’t take her, they were going to
put her down.”
As the lady took her newly adopted fur child home, I gulped down the lump
in my throat and said, “Thank you for adopting her.”
As Penelope and I walked back to the car for the ride home, I wonder who re-
ceived the better Christmas gift, the lady with the new found friend or the dog
that was given the gift of life by this Christmas angel.
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE
P AGE 7
S PRING 2018