One Eye to Heaven – published by Bird’s Thumb

My short story ‘One Eye to Heaven’ was just published by Bird’s Thumb (v.6, issue 1, Feb. 2019).  Click here to read the story in full.  There’s even an audio link so you can listen to me read it with my twangy southern drawl!

Here’s a brief excerpt from the story:

A stray dog wandered into our yard one day, scaring the chickens into a real tizzy. They clucked and squawked like they were under attack. Daddy ran out to the porch to see what the hell was going on, and we followed close behind, my sister and me. We saw the mutt right away, and it was a strange one, though he wasn’t after the chickens at all. He’d pushed his way through an opening in the fence surrounding our empty doghouse, sniffing around like he’d found his home at last. We’d lost our last litter of pups to parvo, and Daddy said the virus lived in the ground there, all around the doghouse. We tossed everything out that could have been contaminated, like the bowls for food and water, a couple of chew toys, and a tattered old blanket. We took our little terrier and moved her to a new home, out near the shed. Daddy was still trying to decide what to do with the old doghouse.

Rubbing his stubbly chin like he often did when thinking something over, he glanced down at us for a moment before returning his gaze to the dog. “Tell you what,” he said, sensing our excitement, “you two get rid of that dog, or I will. Got it?”

“Yeah,” my sister said, clasping her hands together. “We’ll chase it off.”

“You better,” he warned. “You ain’t gonna like it if I have to take care of it.”

Click here to read the full story.  And please let me know what you think in the comments below!