Hey Mom,

Just wanted to share, today I took a leap of doggy faith; I left my old love Lulu in the dust and stumbled (quite literally) upon a fresh start with a new greyhound friend, Greta! Heart’s lighter, no more drama – I’m rewriting my tail, one paw print at a time. Who knew change could feel so fetching?

Wags & Woofs,
Gypsy 🐾

Ah, it was just another whimsical morning in Pawsburg when I, Gypsy, the loveable but gravity-challenged bully, decided it was a fine day to turn a new leaf. You see, every dog in Pawsburg knows me as the one with the heart as wide as his girth and a knack for remembering too much.

But last night, amidst my ninth dream of chicken – the kind your nose follows to the ends of the earth, not the treacherous pork kind, blech! – I thought, “what if I could forget?” Not about chicken, mind you, but about Lulu.

Lulu was a lithe greyhound, the speediest of romances that dashed right past me. I wanted to erase the tail-wagging memories, the games of fetch we had, the vanish of my marrow bones – her favorite too, apparently. No Cleo-paw-tra drama for me, I wanted a mind as spotless as the splash of white on my chest.

Shaking off the sleep – and let’s be honest, a wee bit of drool – I set off to Hound Heights. My short legs making a grand, if not slightly huffing, entrance as I marched up the hill. It’s important to note: the journey was fraught with the drama of an uphill battle, the likes of which not even Harrier harbor on a stormy day could muster. There, I would find The Doggy Depot, the place to deal with all matters of the heart and mind.

“Gypsy, darling, you look bothered,” drawled Poodle-ine, ever so nosy, from her perch outside Rottweiler’s Ribs. “Too many ribs for breakfast, perhaps?”

“Poodle-ine, I seek a new start. I’m to forget Lulu, to wag my tail free of the past,” I confessed, causing her to nearly drop her beribboned bone.

At The Doggy Depot, I confronted Sammy Spaniel, the renowned retriever of lost collars and keeper of memories. “Sammy, old fur, I’ve come to forget.”

“Forget? But why? Everyone in Pawsburg has been yapping about you two!”

“It’s a tail I want docked from my mind, Sammy. I’m not just a Bully of belly rubs and marrow bones; I seek a blank slate, a heart untraced by pawprints.”

Sammy frowned, his ears drooping ever so slightly. “Alright, Gypsy, but erasing memories is like burying a bone – sometimes they resurface.”

Determined, I replied, “Do it.”

Closed eyes, a sniff of chicken – the true elixir – and then darkness.

Awakening in the warmth of Pawsburg’s sunshine, I set off toward Amber Akita Alley. It felt good to trot without the tug of memories. Passing Happy Hounds Dog Walking, I heard the tinkle of tags… reminiscent?

Suddenly, a greyhound zoomed by, her figure a sleek streak of déjà vu.

“Gypsy, is that you? I haven’t seen you since -”

“Lulu?” I blinked. Was my attempt to forget in vain or was this just a sliver of a memory left behind?

“Who’s Lulu?” she asked, confusion skittering across her face. “I’m Greta. Lovely to make a new friend.”

Greta! Of course! My mind was free, and so was my heart. Maybe a blank slate was just what this old dog needed.

Together, we ambled towards Pawfect Pastries, sharing thoughts of crepes versus ribs and the bliss of a good scratch behind the ears.

And just like that, I was Gypsy, the Bully with a zest for life, sunbathing under the Pawsburg sun, a new friend by my side and the past nothing but a buried bone in the sands of Harrier Harbor.

The End.