Those who write for anthologies are always happy to see a new call for submissions.
Chicken Soup for the Soul has added two new titles to their
Possible Books page. One will be called
The Magic of Dogs and the other is
The Magic of Cats. You can find the details by scrolling all the way down the page. These are the last two in the list.
There are suggestions for the kind of stories that will illustrate the magic that our dogs and cats weave through our lives. The deadline date is November 30th so you have plenty of time to write one or more stories to submit. Don't forget that they accept poems for every book as well as stories. Some of you could probably come up with a fine narrative poem about a cat or dog.
We've had a few dogs over the years, but the one most magical was Rusty, an oversized male Golden Retriever. He came to live with our family when he was a pup and our youngest child only 5 months old. Rusty and Karen grew up together, and he turned out to be a wonderful nanny to her. No human nanny could have watched over her any better than he did. Once he....but maybe I should save that story to write and submit to the book on dogs.
My daughter had a big white cat named Ming when she was living on her own. Marriage was in the cards before long. Her husband moved in with two boxer dogs. I wrote a story for another anthology, not Chicken Soup for the Soul about the relationship between the three pets. I was pleased that the story made it into the book.
Start thinking about the pets you've had, the magic that they brought to you and your family. I'll print my story about Ming and the boxers below to get you started thinking. It appeared in an anthology titled Not Your Mother's Book on...Cats.
Top Dog
By Nancy Julien Kopp
My daughter, Karen, and her fiancé spent lots of time making wedding plans and deciding how to blend their two homes into one. Furniture and cooking pans were the least of their concerns. More importantly, they needed to figure out how to get three pets to live harmoniously in one house.
Ming, a male cat, and Karen shared a townhouse and the big white cat liked life just as it was. When Steve became a regular visitor, Ming accepted this other man in his mistress’s life a little at a time. He kept a wary eye on this man who spent so much time with Karen.
There was still one more critical step to their nuptial bliss--the pet introductions. Karen described the meeting to me in a lengthy phone conversation. She said that Steve arrived at the townhouse with his two brindle boxers in tow. I listened to her tale, fearing what the end of the story might be.
Karen told me that Max and Riley were big and muscular and a bit fierce-looking, even though they were usually pretty calm canines. Sides heaving, the dogs confronted Ming while the humans held their breath. Barking and snarling, Max and Riley advanced. Steve shouted to no avail. Karen kept her eye on Ming while Steve tended to the dogs.
Ming fled to the kitchen and leaped onto the countertop, dogs, and Karen racing behind. The cat paced, eyeing those two devil dogs who’d followed him. The attack cat was ready to rumble. In no time at all, he flew at them, claws out and a fierce expression on his usually tranquil face. Ming’s screeches and the dogs’ barking filled the small kitchen for an instant. Add in Steve and Karen’s voices trying to calm their individual pets and chaos reigned. When Max and Riley charged, Ming retreated to a place on the counter where he knew the dogs could not reach him but could still see him. Back arched and hissing, he waited just out of the intruders’ reach. The night of terror didn’t last long. Steve gathered his two big dogs and headed home leaving a worried Karen and a still angry cat alone.
Karen told me she had a talk with Ming after Steve and the dogs left, and no doubt, Steve reasoned with Max and Riley on the ride home. The five of them were going to live together and they would have to learn to get along. This engaged couple didn’t know it then, but they were in training for being parents. Handling kids would be a piece of cake if they managed to get the three pets to live peacefully together.
Weeks later, I spent a weekend with the newlyweds and their menagerie. I’d always been more partial to dogs, but Ming had worked his way into my heart long before. He often curled up next to me when I visited. That afternoon, Max and Riley stationed themselves in front of the sofa, one on either side of my legs, chins on the cushions, slobber included. Ming Kitty snuggled closer to me, not making a sound, but if looks could kill, we’d have been digging two big holes in the back yard for those sweet dogs.
That evening, the dogs were standing in the kitchen hoping for a scrap or two from dinner when I noticed Ming saunter by them. Without missing a beat, he whacked one of the dogs on the snout with his paw, then he kept right on walking. Max and Riley both looked a bit bewildered but left the cat alone. It was pretty obvious that Ming had established his spot on the family tree. And it was several branches higher than the dogs. It may have been the first time a large white cat claimed the title of Top Dog.
Another year passed and the first baby joined the family. Jordan was born in the afternoon, and after I’d had my turn doing all the silly things a new grandmother is wont to do when meeting a grandchild, I left the new parents at the hospital and went to their house to feed the animals and spend the night with them, as we’d prearranged weeks earlier. These three pets had learned to tolerate one another, even though Ming Kitty occasionally used the swat-on-the-nose method to keep the dogs in line. I wondered how they were going to accept this new family pet that would be coming home the next day.
I shouldn’t have worried as they all loved Jordan, and as she grew, she fit right in with the three of them. Once she started to crawl, she chased Ming daily with her eye on his long white tail. Luckily, he was faster than she, but I think he enjoyed the game as much as she did. Max and Riley lay on the floor watching, tongues hanging out. I knew they were cheering her on from the sidelines. If they could speak, they’d have been hollering, “Go Jordan, Get that tail!”
They lived in harmony, Ming reminding Max and Riley that he ruled with the occasional nose swipe. It wasn’t hard, more like he just wanted to bring up the fact that they were guests in his house and they’d better not start any trouble. He’d never admit that he’d come to like those two guys.
Max was the first of the trio to pass on. But Riley still had Ming and the cat seemed to sense his canine brother’s grief. They kept one another company and became good buddies. When Karen and Steve were at work, and Jordan at daycare, those two probably had a few good laughs together about the time they’d first met. That night of terror resulted in a long friendship even though Ming Kitty still wore the crown. Yep, he’d always be Top Dog of the feline world.
(c)
