“Hey Mom! Just lounging on Shepherd’s Skyline (my throne). I’ve got Spencerville at my paw-tips! Bromo, Lil Dot, and even a cat named Tuesday, all under my affectionate rule. Busy sampling K-9 Kebabs and watching over the kingdom. PS: Still miss Sophie. Power and play, stubbornness and unity, all from your Pearl Girl. Long live the pet kingdom!”

Listen to the story here.

In the hallowed annals of Spencerville, my time has installed me as a figure most royal. Pearl, the English Heatherbull of white and peppered black, that’s who I am. Commanding the view from Shepherd Skyline, I survey the town that is my dominion with imperious calm, my black-patched left eye flicking from the distant fringes of Brown Boxer Beach to the bustling avenue of Bullmastiff Boardwalk.

My lieutenants, Bromo and Lil Dot anticipate my orders, a nod here, a glance there of my white crown. Spencerville teems with joy and energy under my rule, even the grumbling cats bowing to the reign of this fair leader. Not that I rule with an iron paw or anything of that garish sort. I have charisma and I am devoted. To my subjects… ahem… my friends.

Take Tuesday, the elusive feline, for example. She loves her solitude. In my wisdom, I awarded her the management of Happy Hounds Dog Walking center. An ironic jab perhaps, but it allowed her to enjoy an air of distance while still being a part of our community.

For myself, I enjoy the simpler pleasures, brought to rest at the shore of Brown Boxer Beach, I allow the sun to lavish its warmth upon my coat. Oh! Not that it is easy – being a leader. The rigors of tasting the latest at K-9 Kebabs or testing the tailor at The Tail Wagger’s Tailor requires stamina. But, I manage. Now at Chow Down Chow Chow, I can chew on chicken nugget kebabs, while Bromo and Lil Dot calmly guard the royal food bowl.

My heart, though it belongs to Spencerville, holds a pocket of longing for a certain brindle-striped bulldog. Sophie, my half-sister, marked with black and white as I am, our matching eye patches creating a bond of kinship transcending even this paradise. The bond of family, the bond of reign, that makes the heart of a ruler steadfast. I see her watching from Shepherd Skyline, a figure strong and silent, as the city below stands witness to our united reign.

I – Pearl, the crowned pet, reign not out of a quest for power but out of an understanding, a respect for the flawed, the unique, the playful. Understanding that every creature has its quirks, be it the stubbornness that shows on refusing those sneaky pill-hidden greens, the playful chase of one’s tail, or even the disdain for an unwanted bath.

I reign as a symbol, a beacon, triggering the sight of unity in oddity. I am the crowned pet of Spencerville, the endearing moniker of English Heatherbull barely does justice to my standing. Yet, I rule, not with an iron fist, but with a playful paw, a wagging tail, and a loyal heart. Long live the pet kingdom of Spencerville!

The End.