8:88) Red 25-JAN-98 22:18

When I walked into the house, he wasn;t there to greet me. I didn't hear the familiar clacking of his nails on the lenolium flooring of the kitchen. So he really was gone. They had put him down last weekend. My dad had called to tell me Saturday morning that they had given him a sedative and that he'd gone peacefully. He was old. His time was near. It was the right thing to do....yeah...

I know. I'd had him since I was seven years old. Rufus, a 45 pound red whippet, almost the color of my hair red. He slept with me everynight and often tried to bulldoze me out of bed when I was younger and smaller. Once he managed to dislodge my head from the pillow and I awoke with my head in the wasterpaper basket beside my bed.

But he wasn't there now. He was dead and gone and there wasn't anything that would bring him back. The other two dogs came close to me and I shyed away from them and went upstairs. He wasn't on the bed, like he should have been...the bed was neat and made and no one had touched since I had last been there.

I went downstairs to fix something to eat. I wouldn't touch either of the other dogs. Didn't acknowledge them. I pulled the quiche out of the fridge, careful to avoid looking at the photo of rufus on the freezer door. I was standing at the microwave, humming to myself and waiting for the quiche to heat up, when I felt a familiar nudging at my foot.

RUFUS!!

But when I look down, it's just Mario. I withdraw with a hiss and start backing into the corner.

"Go lie down Mario." I tell him harshly, but he's not listening, he wants to sniff my feet. I keep backing up until I hit the corner. "Jesus fucking Christ, go away!" I'm starting to shake. I don't want him to touch me. I can't back any farther. I'm trapped. "Go lie down!" I yell. He's nearly touching me. "For christ's sake, go away!!" I shriek at him.

Just then, my step-mother comes in and grabs his collar. "Common Mario." she says light heartedly and leads him out into the living room...

I relax a little, open the micro wave door and start devouring my quiche..