“Hey Mom, guess what, Tan chased a cheese ball all around Wagging Tail Bookstore today! He’s king of his playground in Spencerville, yet goes statue-still near water. Silver’s his new nemesis, ear cleaning’s a horror, and chocolate’s pure evil. Oh, and he’s got top dog, Spencer, and pretty Millie always at his side. More to Spencerville than meets the eye, though. Some doggy drama’s afoot that Tanner’s sniffing out. Stay tuned. Love, King Tan 😆”

Listen to the story here.

The day was ordinary, painfully so, when I found myself staring at the vast expanse of the Retriever River, Tan, my faithful Rat Terrier pug at my side. Mighty good company, he was, but damn it, he had a penchant for the peculiar. A quirk that had burrowed itself in the good humor-filled streets of Spencerville.

He had a fondness for cheese, a lust I dare say. You’d have thought it was manna from heaven, the way he’d chase that silly cheese ball around the yard, but in Spencerville, where else could such an event take place but in the Wagging Tail Bookstore? The place was a value for barks, a literal ‘Bookstore for Dog-kind’.

Then there was his distaste for water. The city and its teeming madness were too much for the noble heart, Tan, who curiously always became as still as a statue near the pool. Couldn’t fathom it, myself. To each his own, I suppose. They’d say he flushed Silver for that old hound dog, and didn’t care for it one bit.

The local park, the desert, our backyard, all were Tanner’s playground, where he roamed like a king. But even this easy-going jester had foes — the vet, ear cleaning, and chocolate, a villainous trio if there ever was one.

Silver was it? Oh how he loved to chase after that car, floppy ears bellowing in the wind, tail curled up like a question mark. There, in those fleeting moments, with Millie, a lass of a King Charles Cavalier, and Spencer, a noble Pug serving as mayor of our town, by his side, Tan was in his kingdom, free and wild. Ah, the simple pleasures.

The Wagging Tail Bookstore, The Barkery, Spa for Paws… Spencerville wasn’t just a town, it was Tan’s own little playground. And boy, he did play. He played his little heart out every day for his wife, his friends, and most importantly, for himself.

There’s Tanner for ya’, gents and maidens. A creature of immense spirit, forever dwelling in the melodious charm of Spencerville. A town where dogs reign supreme and their human follies become legends told under the soft downpour of the moonlight. A near-perfect place, indeed. Or so, that’s what one would be compelled to believe. But what lay under its perfection was a tale of manipulations and deceit, endemic to the psyche, a story that Tanner was soon to reveal.

The End.