By Varteny Koulian
I get up to check on her again. She rarely sleeps anymore. Shallow breath and tired eyes that stare at me.
I carry couch pillows out and arrange them on the patio floor. Then I pick her up, her diminishing weight a constant shock to my arms.
“What’s happened?” my husband demands, alarmed, when I wake him.
“Come,” I say. “We’re making one more memory.”
So we huddle under a large comforter. The three of us: his hand on my shoulder, my fingers curled around her paw. Around us the moment stretches, endless as the ink-blue sky before the coming day.
So sad. So beautiful. So relatable. Well done. Congrats.
Heartbreaking and lovely.
So very lovely. Thanks for writing this.
Simply beautiful, simply told. A story that reawakens a joy-grief I carry with me. Thank you.
M. Sargent
Very nice and sad story.
Yes, yes. Been there. Yes.
Wow. Every word contributes. Kudos!
Sweetness.
So many of us have been there. Sad, but beautiful.
So beautiful. There is that moment – when we are perfectly still, and time stops, too. Love.
Wonderful. it brought me to tears.
Ahhh.
We have one of those with us now: 16 years old, wheezing and arthritic. Once, she jumped through a transit van’s driver window from a sitting start.
Absolutely beautiful. So well done. Thank you
Beautiful , understanding and perceptive.
Very touching and realistic. Among the top-notch 101 word stories I’ve read this year. Varteny, your use of descriptive words [“Shallow breath and tired eyes,” “diminishing weight a constant shock”] to describe the dying animal are economical, yet thoughtful. And as the couple create “one more memory,” your “ink-blue sky before the coming day” is a beautiful visual, symbolic ending. Excellent. Thanks for sharing this story.