The one-armed man who moved in next door has a little dog. The dog is shared between him and
his ex who comes now and then to walk the dog. Sometimes we see the one-armed man and the
dog outside the house. Now and then we see the ex and the dog on the trail. Our dog is usually
friendly with other dogs but the one-armed man’s dog has no friends. A couple of times our dog
goes out of her way to be neighbourly with his dog and his dog whines as if our dog is going to
maul him because our dog is bigger and taller and has the ability to growl a deep growl. Both
times the one-armed man turns into a mama bear and shoos our dog away with his leg, as in
kicking. Both times we can only watch in horror and call our dog back and say sorry to the one-
armed man. We say sorry to him because we can’t think of anything else to say to a man who has
only one arm, like, Please stop kicking our dog. We say sorry because the one-armed man may
be ex-military or a victim of a car crash, and he is holding the dog’s leash in his only hand and
kicking is his only option besides standing there and watching his dog get pawed, as in playing.
Each time we try our best to avoid the one-armed man and his dog for a few days. We discourage
our dog from going pee-pee in the backyard when his dog is going pee-pee in his backyard. At
times this is unavoidable and our dog sniffs along the fence trying to be neighbourly. Three times
now his dog whines as if upset by our dog’s nose but the reality, according to the ex on the trail
now and then, is that the dog is going blind. All three times the one-armed man shoos our dog
away from under the fence even though our dog is in our backyard and not his. All three times
we call our dog inside and slide the patio door shut behind us. We leave the one-armed man be
because we can’t think of anything else to do with a man who has lost an arm and whose little
dog is going blind.
TiffanyH
Tiffany Hsieh was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Canada at the age of fourteen with her parents. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Salamander, The Shanghai Literary Review, Atticus Review, Poet Lore, Sonora Review, the Apple Valley Review, and other publications. She lives in southern Ontario with her husband and their dog.