Matt Werner

@werner1.bsky.social

Story teller. Jack of all trades. www.matthewawerner.com Author page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00PPQMAXE

This is Chootie. He looks like a dog, but from one of those 15th century paintings done by someone who had only ever heard about dogs. 12/10 (IG: chootieboy)

a very fluffy white creature with light brown markings on its back and ears is resting flat on some concrete tiles with a body like a slightly inflated bearskin rug. his legs and tail are merely puffy nubs, but his front paws are completely shaved for hygiene purposes, giving him the grabby-hands look of a feral raccoon. his face is an exuberant expression, with all his features slightly too close together, including his mismatched and somewhat human brown and blue eyes. he is simultaneously ridiculous and delightful.

I was at the courthouse today. Woman was at the clerks window. She couldn’t get an ID because her parents didn’t pick a name when she was born and her birth certificate says “baby girl.” Nobody ever fixed it. This is real life.

I keep looking at my phone screen, hoping it will bring me something happy, or fulfill something that’s missing, perhaps peal away a little loneliness. Alas, it fails me.