Mishaps

Boston, Massachusetts 1980

Bri and Sue Lance were happily enjoying each other’s company. The dishes were done, the house was clean, and they were nestled into each other’s arms. Nothing could compare them though for the adventure of Maxine “Max” Trailblazer. An energetic beagle, Max has turned Bri and Sue’s lives upside down. From chewing on their clothes as a puppy to tiring them out at the dog park as an adult, Max has changed these ladies’ lives forever.

“I can’t believe we’ve had Max for five years now.” Bri was playing with Max while wrestling a squeaky duck toy out of her mouth. 

“And yet, she still has the energy of a three year old child.”

Both women laughed. 

“Remember the time when our nephew, Stephen, was playing that obnoxious Bilal Gordon song with the nodding cat, and when it got to the part where Bilal banged the drums, he banged it near Max and she got feisty?”

Sue stared at Bri with fondness. “Yeah she was barking as if to say, ‘Back off, jackass. This is my personal space!’”

The women’s laughter filled the pristine living room again. Having a dog in their life had brought such peace that they couldn’t even picture having children, for that was a topic neither women could explore.

Suddenly, Max started peeing on Bri’s shoe. 

“No, Max! Bad dog!”

Max started to whimper and walked to the end of the living room and towards the kitchen. 

“She’s not always a bad dog.” Sue glanced outside of the kitchen in a distance. 

“Sue, she’s a dog! She has to learn discipline or other strangers will be confused by why an owner lets her dog pee on random people’s feet!”

Sue frowned. “I understand.”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Bri was the first to break it. 

“Then again, she reminds me of another rebellious spirit.”

That led to a smile and some kissing. Max glanced innocently at them.

Sue got out of her seat and went down to Max’s height.

“Max, do you want to go to the dog park?”

“Woof, woof!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

The ladies walked out of their glorious house. The ladies walked near the Cape Cod beach, the lovely waves calming their spirits. They knew that Max had a spirituality connection with the ocean; a psychic told them that once. Granted, they thought it was a bit odd for the psychic to focus on their non-human companion, but luckily, they were open minded people.

It wasn’t long before Bri and Sue saw Max digging in the sand. Unfortunately, the sand went blasting towards a British man’s face. 

“What the fuck?!”

The two ladies ran towards the disgruntled man. “Hey, ladies, you might want to take control of your dog there. I almost got sand in my sandwich!”

As usual, Sue came over and defended Max.

“Sir, she’s just a small dog. We’re still learning how to discipline her.”

British Man was not amused, nor did he care about dogs.

“I don’t care if your dog was balanced on a trapeze artist’s shoulders while walking on a tightrope! Control her or I will have to call Animal Control.”

Now it was Bri’s turn to speak up. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll be taking our dog now.”

After that awkward encounter, the ladies focused on relaxing on the beautiful landscape that was Cape Cod. They laid down on their blankets and stared at the beautiful blue sky.

“I swear, Sue, Max has you wrapped around her little finger. She could take a shit on the Taj Mahal and you would still fall for those puppy dog eyes!”

“Well, at least I don’t act like a strict dictator who wants to control our canine friend!”

“Who said anything about being a dictator?”

“Nobody.”

Sue was grumpy and folded her arms.

Bri heavily sighed.

“Look, all I’m saying is that Max deserves to be handled with love and discipline. Ever since Nicole passed away, it feels like you’ve been overprotective of the current pet that we have.”

Sue couldn’t deny that. As silly as it sounded, she went to a therapist last year to handle the grief of losing Nicole to cancer. It wasn’t the fact that Nicole was gone that got to her, but it was the fact that she could never be with her again until after death.

“I’m just glad that we have another dog again. It’s good to be man’s best friend.”

Bri smiled. “And she will continue to be with us. Let’s play with her.”

The energetic, bubbly beagle was so full of life, a notion that the ladies almost were envious to.

They spent the whole afternoon playing with Maxine, making wonderful memories of their best friend at their side. Bri took photos with her camera. She would keep those close to her heart forever.

When they got home, Bri decided to feed Max bacon bites from the dog food bag.

Max thoroughly enjoyed them. She was such a happy girl. 

“I just never knew that having a dog was so much fun.” Sue smiled to herself. She started cooking Eggs Benedict. 

Bri was a little confused. “Eggs? For dinner?”

Sue smiled. “Why not?”

I guess I’ve had stranger things, Bri thought to herself. 

The two ladies enjoyed their meal. 

“Hey, babe. We should make a dog album.”

“What a great idea! We never did that for Nicole when she was alive! Let’s do it!”

Bri gathered the pictures from her upstairs bedroom. She glanced at them with bliss. Max may be a stubborn fool, but she was still a sweet, kind dog. 

They had such a great relationship. 

“Babe, are you coming?”

“Yeah, hold on!”

Bri rushed downstairs and saw Sue and Max happily gazing at each other. She decided to take another picture.

“Bri!”

“We got to capture the memories forever!” 

Sue shrugged. “Sure, why the hell not?”

The two ladies and Maxine got together for one final picture and smiled into the camera. At that moment, they realized that nothing could stop their bond with their adorable dog.