Hounds
By Katie Coleman
Her husband escaped the apartment, carrying boxes of fresh air, and leaving behind the stale smell of dogs’ breath and carpet slippers. Shirl rubbed spit into a dribble of toothpaste on her pink ruffled shirt. Her Afghan Hounds whined as she spun through her closet shaking loose half a dozen hangers. Jimmy and Choo collected their leashes and whined as she tossed on a ra-ra skirt over a pair of bell-bottoms. Dust motes hung in the air. Choo circled the bed then slobbered against the sheepskin rug and watched with one eye as Shirl wriggled into a Beatnik turtleneck. She studied her reflection, swallowed and ran her hand over the creases.
Jimmy and Choo each gripped one end of her conical bra in their jaws. She threw it in the bin then adjusted her fingerless gloves. Finding a Rubik’s Cube in her bedside drawer, she puzzled for a moment against the pillows. The hounds nosed the door then nuzzled her bruised thighs and nudged her towards the stairs. ‘It’s impossible!’ she said, crouching on the landing. The dogs gnawed, unzipped, and helped her to break free of her garments. She gulped back tears, naked except for her Spanx as she fastened a shiny new collar around her neck. The hounds bumped their rear ends on the rug and Shirl kissed her babies then curled up for a nap. When she awoke shivering, she stacked her entire collection into suitcases and tossed the key into the air. Choo leapt, snapped and gulped it in one.
That evening, Shirl hiked through the village and breathed cool winds from the east. She wore cargo pants and trainers, and beside her walked a proud pair of Afghan Hounds. All three looked delectable in their matching collars.
THE END
Author Bio: Katie Coleman’s fiction has appeared in Ghost Parachute, The Ilanot Review, Bending Genres, Briefly Zine, Lit 202, Bright Flash, Corvus Review, and Potato Soup Journal. Her work has been nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes. She has a master’s in creative writing and works as a teacher in Phuket, Thailand. Katie can be found on Twitter @anjuna2000.