Duke ver. 1.0
Guttersnipe 'verse
"Dogs are miracles with paws." - Attributed to Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy
There is an old, dusty album and within contain the tintypes of one Henry Roseden. As an adult Henry was always well regarded amongst his peers, he made the right friends, married the right wife, usurped the right money from the right people; but as a child Henry was very lonely.
The first few photos in the album of Henry as a baby and young child create a very somber picture, and it seems a permanent frown was stuck to his face.
But then there is Henry at 10 - with a grin, wide and toothy - a puppy snuggled in his arms. That was the day his father brought Duke home. At the first sight of the large puppy, Henry fell in love. He smelled like baby powder and spring rain, and Henry adored the feel of his short fur betwixt his fingers. It comforted him, more so than any of his father’s stories or his mother’s lullabies.
Duke happened to be the payment Mr. Roseden took off one of the local gamekeepers. The man could not pay his gambling debts, and Mr. Roseden fearing his son might turn into a crazed hermit at too early an age took the dog.
It seemed to be a cure better than medicine.
Duke followed the boy everywhere, even into the bath - where he would pounce into the water, and then once realizing that he was indeed in water make all haste at getting out. His usual greeting involved licking Henry’s whole face with his scratchy tongue.
The father did not fear for his son any longer, for he had heard the boy laugh.
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140,561 Literary Works • 673,435 Reviews
Thank you, kayles, for the review. This was written as a flash fiction piece for my creative writing class, we had to write about something in third person. Though, the characters are from my novel-in-works Guttersnipe. So I probably won't be expanded this.
Ta,
Cal.
Love this idea, but it doesn't quite feel finished. You could elaborate on Henry's childhood to strengthen the emotional impact - this piece has a lot of potential!