Hey pack,

Just had to paws and share a tail-wagging revelation. Turns out, I’m not just your average furball; I’m the heartstring that ties our Spencerville family together. My tail is like a magic wand, spreading cheer and love in every bark and bound. Couldn’t have sniffed out this truth without a winged sidekick named Clarence. So if you’re feeling less sparkle this season, just remember, I might be chewing a bone, but I’m with you in spirit – the unseen wag in your holiday. Here’s to our wonderful life!

Wags and woofs,
Murph 🐾

Listen to the story here

I’ve always considered myself a rather jolly fellow, never one to turn down a frolicsome tumble in the grass or a hearty bout with a beloved chew toy. However, on this particular Christmas Eve night in Spencerville, a certain thoughtful melancholy had settled over me like a thick blanket of snow.

The festivities were creeping into every household, with lights twinkling along the gutters and joyful barks and mews peppering the wintry air. Yet there I was, sprawled across my favorite spot on the living room rug, watching my humans busily deck the halls and garnish the enormous tree that presided over the room like the queen of a forest.

It’s not that I lacked holiday cheer—I’d wagged my tail to every carol and sniffed appreciatively at every whiff of gingerbread and pine. But in these quiet moments of observation, I worried if my life had been significant enough, if I’d done well by my people and furry acquaintances.

“You look like you’ve lost your best bone, mate,” came a voice, startlingly chipper and just beyond the normal auditory range of human folks. I craned my neck upward to find a sprightly old pug with a pair of wings that defied the very essence of aerodynamics perched on the mantelpiece.

“Uh, have we met?” I rumbled, my voice a deep contrast to the pug’s squeaky intonation.

“Not in the formal sense,” he replied, wagging his stub of a tail. “I’m Clarence, your guardian angel.”

“My what now?” I blinked my deep-set eyes, certain I had indulged in one too many doggy donuts from the eateries down the lane.

“Guardian angel. I’m here to see you through this bout of doggie doubt,” Clarence said, with a twinkle in his small, dark eyes. “You’re about to take a little journey, Murphy. One paw at a time, through your own wonderful life.”

Before I could object, the room dissolved around us, and we were suddenly at the edge of Westie Woods, only the woods weren’t bustling with the usual scampering and merrymaking. Everything was oddly silent; not a squirrel chattered, nor a single leaf rustled. It was as if the world held its breath.

“Observe,” Clarence prompted, and that’s when I saw it—or, rather, didn’t see it. The usual paths that I had lovingly carved with my enthusiastic gallops were overgrown. The very essence of me was missing from this place, and it left a gaping void that I could feel in my bones.

Then came a montage, whimsical yet piercingly clear, of the lives I had touched. My human, little Katie, tottering on uncertain legs through the backyard without my guiding nuzzle. My siblings, isolated in their own corners of town, never having wrestled with the great Murphy in the prime of our days. Even the chipper Chihuahua next door seemed to watch the world with less sparkle in his eyes.

With each revelation, it became increasingly evident that my simple joys, my company, and my heart had weaved an invisible but indelible web across Spencerville.

As I watched, my human family gathered, faces less luminescent in my absence. My engagement with life, it seemed, had lent color and music to their existence in ways I had never fully comprehended.

Suddenly, the muffled toll of a distant bell reached my ears and brought me back to the living room, still adorned in its holiday splendor. A sensation washed over me – the understanding that while I may not always hold center stage, my very essence was interwoven with the lives around me.

My tail wagged, unbidden, and not just to any rhythm this time—I was the conductor of joy, the keeper of warmth, and cherished member of a family, both human and pet alike.

“Well, seeker of truths, what say you now?” Clarence asked, though he seemed to already know the answer.

With a newfound spring in my step, I rounded on the plump little pug angel. “It is rather a wonderful bark, isn’t it?” I conceded, my heart swelling with pride and purpose. “And a rather splendid world, for that matter.”

The End.