Two Stories by Meg Pokrass

The doctor adopts a mutt from the SPCA, a gorgeous non-shedding dog with perfectly curly hair. This is the kind of luck he has. I know how much he will love having dog breath in the car, the bed, our living room. I have a positive feeling about this dog, and buy luxury dog items: a lambswool bed, an organic waterproof tie-died leash, Van Gogh inspired dog-collar. A food bowl made by monks.

In order to keep things youthful and peppy for the doctor I install my scalp with seasonal custom hair extensions: gold and pink to mimic Fall leaves in Connecticut where he grew up. 

For health, I plunge into a diet of melon and blanched wheat grass juice. To remain fresh as I used to feel, I have my teeth professionally bleached to match the color of day-old daisies.

In the morning the doctor I’m married to admits he is slightly infatuated with younger patient - one who is dying. He’s with her most nights. He tells me this while wiping semen off his chest with a Kleenex after I have made him nice with my soft hands. 

He says her name is Alabama.

I ask, is she beautiful? This patient who needs so much care?

"How many Alabamas can there be?" he says, avoiding my question. 

Then, he talks about her famous cacti collection. How a cactus she loves the most, one she calls "Jim" (he giggles, I giggle) has long white human-looking hair. 

"Technically though, isn’t cactus ‘hair’ called ‘fur’? I ask.

"You make a good point," my husband says. He touches my new wig and releases a groan of approval. I tell him this wig is made of real hair, from living girls.

Meg Pokrass is the author of 8 collections and the Series Co-Editor of Best Microfiction. Her new collection, The First Law of Holes: New and Selected will be published by Dzanc Books in 2024.