Space Pug

By Alex McGilvery

Neil and Boss, his pug dog, are content with their routine, until one day Boss doesn't return from chasing a squirrel. Has he been dognapped by researchers? Neil sets out to find his dog, leaving the comfort of his home. He is determined to rescue Boss, even if it means going to space to do it.

  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Celticfrog Publishing
• Release date: May 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781989092231

Alex McGilvery

Alex has been writing stories almost as long as he's been reading them. He lives in Kamloops, BC and spends a great deal of time figuring out how to make his characters work hard at life. His two dogs, named after favourity scotch malts are a big reason he doesn't suffer as much as his characters.

Book preview

Boss

Neil clipped the leash to Boss, the dog led him out the door then sat impatiently as Neil carefully locked the door. It was the routine. Boss’s cold nose woke Neil at eight in the morning, then again at eight-thirty, sometimes at nine too.

Getting up was hard when he had nothing to get up for. Well, nothing except one annoying, exuberant, farting pug It was enough, for now. The walk came before breakfast, Boss’s reward for his alarm clock act.

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They walked along the sidewalk to the crosswalk. Boss peed on the fire-hydrant, then they crossed the street and walked back along the sidewalk to the park gates across the road from Neil’s basement studio apartment. A fancy name for a grubby hole in the ground, it suited him.

They walked the path through the park, taking the one to the left. After meeting that dog on the right-hand path once. Boss had taken a liking to a large, unmannered beast that looked like a cross between a Rottweiler and a leopard seal. They had played for what felt like hours while the dog’s owner attempted to engage Neil in small talk, he had never taken that way again. In the far corner of the park the juncture of the fence and a line of willow tree gave him a sufficient illusion of privacy to let Boss off the leash, so the dog could choose a stick to bring to Neil.

Neil tossed the stick and Boss took off like a shot to pounce on the stick and give it vigorous shake before returning it tooth-marked and covered with slobber. Neil threw the stick harder and they repeated the game until the stick disintegrated beyond any hope of Neil sending it soaring for Boss to fetch.

Time to go home, boy. Neil clipped the leash back on the dog and they retraced their steps exactly to their home. The dog got his high quality dog-food, guaranteed to have all the nutrients Boss needed. Neil got his oatmeal, not guaranteed to do anything but temporarily fill the void within him. To be honest, it didn’t look as good as Boss’s food.

The dog always finished first, walked to the couch, turned around three times, kneaded the cushion into shape, then dropped with a thump to watch Neil through his enormous eyes. Boss would stay there through the day snoring, belching and farting. Neil imagined if Boss were a person, he’d wear an old undershirt and sit with a beer and the button on his pants unbuttoned.

Too bad I don’t do anything interesting for you to watch. Neil finished his breakfast, washed his bowl and spoon, then filled his water bottle with water and a bit of lemon juice – apparently a way to avoid kidney stones. The doctor had never suggested Neil was in any danger of kidney stones, but they were reportedly painful enough