Page 7 - Anywhere but Paradise

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Howdy

Finally, iT’s saturday.

“I’m here, Howdy,” I say as the quarantine officer

unlocks the door to my cat’s kennel and Daddy and I
slip in.
Howdy has smushed himself up against the corner
of his cell under the wooden bench.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner,” I say as I lie

belly-down on the cold concrete and glimpse my cat in
shadow. I can’t read his eyes. “I can stay for two whole
hours today,” I say and reach out to pet him. “And

tomorrow, too.”
Howdy lays back his ears, opens his mouth, and
hisses.
“Howdy,” I cry, pulling back my hand. “It’s me,
Peggy Sue. You know, the one who loves you. The one

who misses you. The one who wishes more than any-
thing else that you didn’t have to live here.”

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