Wednesday, December 18, 2019


Dog in a Manger
Billie’s mother and sister sat at my table at the reception.  So did Roger, Trevor, and Trevor’s ex-wife, soon to be his wife again. As I sat down Billie’s mother told us her husband had died of lung cancer a year after the wedding.  She was still angry at him for using the ‘unto death do us part’ loophole.

Billie’s sister had been engaged twice, but both times she and her mother had decided the groom wasn’t quite up to their standards. She’d left one of them at the altar after a dispute with his sister. Billie’s mother and sister left together to visit the Ladies Room.

“Dog in a manger,” I muttered, looking over at Billie and Bo slow dancing. Billie was as happy as I’d ever seen her.

“Dog in a manger?” Roger asked.

“It’s an expression. A dog can’t eat the hay, but he may chase the other animals out of the manger just for spite.”

“Billie’s mom can’t be happy, so she tries to keep Billie from being happy.”

“Dog in a manger,” I repeated.  “Not gonna let them chase my happiness away.”

Today I won’t let the dog in the manger chase me from whatever makes me happy.

Dogged Determination ©2018 & 2019 by Ken Montrose

Dogged Determination is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

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