Hey Master Baker, Merlin here. I’ve been moonlighting as Pawsburgh’s resident Romeo, romancing by night and wagging by day. Found love (and maybe a few treats) under the twinkling stars. It’s complicated, but isn’t everything that’s worth a tail wag? Catch you at sunrise, smelling like magic and doggy dreams. ✨ -Merlin the Enchanter

Listen to the story here

Whenever my human, the baker with hands perpetually exuding the aroma of sweet confections, said I was her “little wizard,” it never struck me as prophetic. That was until my paws first touched Pawsburgh’s cobblestone streets, where the whimsical mirth of Merlin the blue merle Pomeranian mingled with enchantments.

In this nocturnal haven, where the moon hung over Hound Heights like an indulgent chaperone, I found myself – an ordinary earthbound dog by day – amid the clandestine escapades of a realm unseen by human eyes.

On one such twilight, as my human nodded off, I embarked upon my routine pilgrimage. A whisper of magic carried me away, and soon, the whimsical town greeted me like an old friend whispering familiar tales.

It makes no sense, right? Dogs, having their secret society – it’s something out of a Woody Allen neurosis, except without the angst and with more tail wagging. But dig it, this was my reality.

Amidst the tangled serenade of Pawsburgh, lay Amber Akita Alley, a bustling thoroughfare of shops and aromas. My four-legged comrades and I would frequently rendezvous at Doggone Deli. Bella, with her feline grace, would always opt for the sprat fillet – go figure. Max, on the other hand, swayed by the merest hint of a sausage, made Hound’s Hotdogs his temple.

However, that evening, the alleyway echoed with something more profound than culinary desires. You see, Pawsburgh had magic entwined within its very essence, and I, like an eager pup, found myself bewitched by it – and by her, the bewitching collie who ran The Howling Husky Hardware Store.

She flickered into my life like firelight, her sable and white fur dancing like flames. I told myself it was the intrigue of her store’s odd, spell-like trinkets that drew me – a tiny lie like claiming you read Playboy for the articles.

Her name was Aura, and as accidental as it might have sounded, to any dog that knew the twinkle in my eyes, it was written in the stars – those same stars embellishing my stardust coat.

Our conversation wandered the realms, from chew toy critiques to debating the culinary demerits of asparagus, with the ease of a cicada’s song melting into the sleepy chorus of a summer’s eve.

“Why do humans assume we can’t discern good food?” I mused aloud, adopting a tone I fancied somewhat Woody Allen-esque in its neurotic charm. “It’s an insult to my palate that they even suggest sharing their asparagus with us.”

Aura laughed, her tail swaying like a metronome set to the rhythm of joviality, and in that moment, under the lattice of Pawsburgh’s glimmering firmament, I found myself enraptured not just by her laughter, but by the entirety of her being.

It’s complicated, you know, this business of doggy romance. Especially when you’re caught in the spectral light of Pawsburgh, unsure if your affection is a shared one or merely the reflection of a lone star seeking companionship in the sky.

That night, at Setter Shore, where the sea whispers secrets only moonlit lovers can decipher, I shared my innermost canine musings with Aura. “Life is but a succession of burrows,” I said with a philosophical air. “We burrow for warmth, comfort, sometimes companionship.”

And as the stars above mingled with the spectral dance of the sea below, Aura’s eyes, oceans within themselves, met mine with a depth that acknowledged the shared solitude and longing between us.

We stood there on the cusp of something ethereal, two canine constellations aligning on a shore warmed by the possibility of romance – until the dawn beckoned my return.

With the break of light, I found myself once again in the lap of my baker, surrounded by the earthy reality of my daily existence. Yet my heart remained, lingering in the spectral embrace of Pawsburgh, and with Aura, my incandescent collie – my whimsy, my warmth, my celestial mate in a world veiled in magic.

The End.