Gone to the Dogs

Gone to the Dogs
By Sylvia Skrmetta

Maggie donned her floppy sun bonnet, pulled on her brand new garden gloves and headed for her garden. By golly, she thought, this is the year I take my garden back! Armed with her rake in one hand and the shovel in the other, she maneuvered her ample body through a horde of obstacles scattered over her backyard.

"No, no, no bad dog!" she hollered, as Daisy jumped up on her hind legs to give Maggie her usual morning wet kisses. Maggie, teetering from the weight of the big gentle giant, dropped the shovel in order to wipe the sticky dog slime off of her face.

Carefully avoiding the chewed-up assortment of toys, Daisy ceremoniously dropped at her feet, Maggie managed to reach the small corner of her yard that had once been a flourishing garden, her pride and joy. Of course, that was before Daisy showed up on her front porch. Over the years, she had tried fences and barricades of every design to keep Daisy out of her vegetable garden. Once, in anger, she threw a muddy garden boot at Daisy only to have it returned by the tail-wagging dog who thought it was a game.

Maggie and Daisy stood side by side studying the small plot of ground full of holes and chewed up tools, plants, and assorted paraphernalia.

"What the heck, Daisy, you can have it", stated Maggie as she stared into Daisy's big brown eyes. "I'm going to the grocery store. Need anything?"