<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I lost Puddles today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, not lost as in she can be found. Lost. Forever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I sit on the bench under the ancient oak tree in our yard. \u201cHave you ever lost someone?\u201d I whisper to the tree. Branches sway, and leaves rustle in the breeze. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, tree. I lost someone too.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hear the jangle of a collar and panting breath. My heart races. Puddles dashes across the yard towards me and jumps up on my lap. I give her a good head rub just the way she likes. She licks all over my face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPuddles! I thought you were gone!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She inches her way up my chest and snuggles. I hold her warm body tight against me, and her heart beats in time with mine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou scared me little girl,\u201d I breathe in her ear. \u201cDon\u2019t ever leave again, promise? I love you so much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Momma sits on the bench beside us. She takes my hand and gently squeezes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I look at my lap. Puddles is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Momma\u2019s eyes are wet, like mine. She dabs her eyes with a tissue and offers one to me. We sit there for a long while, holding hands without saying a word. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She softly strokes my cheek and runs her fingers through my hair. I know deep down that everything will be okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Momma clears her throat and manages a smile. \u201cHoney, I can’t take your sad away,\u201d she says, her voice soft and low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut I’ll be by your sad. Today. Tomorrow. And the day after that. For as long as I need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I lost Puddles today. No, not lost as in she can be found. Lost. Forever. I sit on the bench under the ancient oak tree in our yard. \u201cHave you ever lost someone?\u201d I whisper to the tree. Branches sway, and leaves rustle in the breeze. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, tree. I lost someone too.\u201d I hear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-3623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama-literary","tag-microfiction"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":7}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/by_your_sad.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3623"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4026,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3623\/revisions\/4026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}