[Fiction] Dear Posse No. 4: Barking Madness

I’m working on a serial fiction project. Each segment will be published here and on Patreon. It is available in full to Patreon supporters:

Dear Posse,

Last night…well, it’s always night now, isn’t it? Sort of. Anyway. My phone said it was 9:36 P.M., and the puggle had to pee, and two of the three lights on the back porch are burned out, and I can’t be bothered to change them.

Anyway. Last night, Brad the puggle didn’t want to go our usual way down the path to the neighborhood gazebo. No, Brad heard something rustling in the weeds by the forest behind the townhouse and decided we should check it out.

So we did.

Brad took a leak. I took a peek.

The giant spider in the stalky weeds peeked back, stars reflecting me and that one working porch light in the dull black bulbs of its eyes.

Brad barked.

The spider barked.

I barked.

My neighbor opened his sliding glass door and said: “You’ll wake the baby.”

The spider chittered: “Don’t wake the baby.”

Brad barked.

I thought about barking. My neighbor parks his truck where I usually put my trash cans for pickup. Why he doesn’t use his driveway, I’ll never know. I turned to look at him. I opened my mouth to say something, but then I heard rustling in the weeds. I looked back at the shadows where the giant talking spider used to be.

Brad barked again.

“Sorry,” I said to no one in particular.