I relate a lot more to Steph's, myself. But since she wrote it, I had to find something else! A very close friend of mine is bulimic and I can remember being mesmerized by her stories of excess. She told me, once, that a bulimic's esophogus can burst from the erosion done by vomiting and I used to have nightmares of walking into the bathroom and finding her in a pool of blood. I was one of the first people she ever admitted this to and I think sometimes I would have rather lived in ignorance. But, yes, it is amazing how something that is intended to nourish our bodies gets so much symbolism attached to it and it's actually lower on Maslow's hierarchy of needs than love is. I guess when you feel unloved you can't go higher on the list to meet that need so you have to go lower and make it fit.

Sail, I think that yours is just a logical extension of mine, really. The idea that it isn't *really* comfort, or that what small comfort exists is so, so, SO fleeting.

what small comfort exists is so, so, SO fleeting.

Exactly.

Beg

The vet says there is a mass, most likely cancer. We'll know for sure next week. It's already eaten its way into her jaw. She's lost 10 pounds already, a quarter of her weight, and her ribs are painfully visible through her still healthy golden brown coat.

We will cook her chicken and mix it with rice and a little garlic. We'll fill her bowl with the People food she was trained not to beg for. We will give her all the soft treats she wants—cheese and bacon and beef flavored. We will take her to the Tropicool and get her a small vanilla softserve in a cup even if she is too weak to do the traditional run through the park beforehand. We will scratch her ears and tell her she is a good girl for finishing her food and hope we have time left to spoil her with it.

lisah. You made me cry with that on.

You made me cry with that on.

me too! It's about one of my best dog friends and it's happening right now. She was just at the vet yesterday and it's not looking good.

Man. This topic is about as uncomforting as it gets. But we're getting some incredible drabbles out of it.

lisah. That was simply amazing. Sometimes I wish we had a Collected Drabbles by Great Write Wayistas.

ETA: Though one would go nuts as an editor selecting them.

Sometimes I wish we had a Collected Drabbles by Great Write Wayistas.

I'm actually about to pitch that to my agent.

Wow. Remind me to send flowers to the Editor. See how sure I am that it will fly?