I was sitting in the backyard of my vacation house in the late evening. I had a boxer puppy in my lap chewing on a stick while I thought up the plot of a short story. Without thinking I would throw a toy and the puppy would run, grab it and bring it back to my lap to chew. It was pleasantly warm, a breeze coming off of the nearby saltwater pond, an early summer evening like any other.

And then the world changed. Continue reading →