by Donnie Huang

April 2023

Greetings reader! Throughout history, pets have become close companions to humans. In honor of the most purr-fect paw-liday, International Pet Day (April 11th), this is a short collection of student stories and pictures about their furry, feathered, or winged buddies. These stories remind us how pets are not merely animals, but important members of our lives who enrich our soul. Enjoy these stories as we celebrate the joy these companions bring to our lives. Welcome to “Pet Stories for the Soul”! 

(Note to Chicken Soup for the Soul, please do not sue me…)

During your reading spree fellow fur-end, here is a challenge for you. How many pet puns can you find in this whole article?

Dilly isn't my dog, but rather my grandparents’. I remember the day I went out with my grandparents to get her and how she peed on my grandma's lap on the way home. Such joys! In a couple of my art pieces relating to my grandparents, I tend to include a golden retriever somewhere as an ode to Dilly and Murphy. Murphy was another dog my grandparents had before Dilly. Murphy happened to have the exact same birthday as me which is pretty crazy. Amazing dog, super sweet and obedient T^T. Sadly, both dogs have passed but they will always be near and dear to my heart as well as golden retrievers in general. :)

Found you at 8:35 AM September 4th 2022.

I saw you on the stairs, and I didnt know what you were until I picked you up. You didn’t fly away from me so I was excited and grabbed my camera. It was then that I realized you only had three legs. What happened to your other three, I have no idea, but I then decided I couldn’t let you go outside just to die.

I got you half a grape to feed on, made you a new home in a jar with leaves, a couple twigs, and your beloved grape. You did love crawling in that twig. Remember when I opened your lid to add in new sticks and you flew out? I didn’t expect that you could fly. You landed on the tallest part of the ceiling and I grabbed my net to be able to get you down. You didn’t fly away and instead crawled on my finger to which I let you back into your jar.

I left you out in the sun after researching a bit about flies and learning you guys like warmer temperatures. I left you there, checking up on you occasionally. You ate more grapes, climbed more twigs and at nightfall you were under some leaves. I assumed you were sleeping but this morning I found you in the same position, unmoving, your wings slightly apart.

I realized you had passed and may have even left last night when I thought you were sleeping. We didn’t have a full 24 hours together. And to be honest it was probably me who killed you by accident somehow, but nonetheless.... I have no idea what happened to you prior to our meeting and how you lost all your legs, but I hope you enjoyed the grape I gave you and that you passed comfortably and painlessly. I am also truly sorry if it was I who unintentionally killed you, my deepest and sincerest apologies. I also apologize for not giving you a name... I thought we had more time and that I would be able to sit on it for a while.... It was nice knowing you. May you find the light in Mothia.

His Majesty King Maximus is the top dog in our house. He's smart and manipulative, but also the laziest boy in the world.

Being a Pomeranian, Max was predicted to be 10 lbs, as his parents were. However, this man would not stop growing. He is now 18 lbs, but not fat at all. He's just that big. Sometimes people mistake him as a Spitz because he is not round like a Pom, but longer and more proportional like the other Spitz breeds.

Max knows that we know exactly what he wants: food. All Max has to do is chill out next to a person consuming food or throw out some cute tricks and leftovers will just magically fall into his mouth. Everything's a hell no unless it involves him chomping on something yummy. No disgusting carbs. Only crunchy morsels of bone or sweet fruit.

Additionally, though he is fully capable of climbing the stairs himself, he would rather scream and bark for someone to carry him up than lift a paw. This man uses his irresistibility to get what he wants, whether it is good for his health or not.

Max is also a jealous attention seeker. If someone dares to touch his favorite hooman (mom) claws and teeth will be thrown. He relishes in all kinds of attention though, especially from strangers. He has an Instagram account solely dedicated to him, for fluff's sake (go follow @theoversizedpom).

I have the cutest cat in the world.

Coming in at a little less than two feet tall and a whopping 12 pounds, my cat Mimi thinks she can do anything.

And to be fair, for the most part she kind of can. 

But other times, I remember one time walking into my kitchen and seeing Mimi jump from our kitchen counter (where she is NOT allowed) onto the fridge (another place she is NOT allowed to be), I tried to get her off but she kept swatting at me so I walked away. A couple minutes later, I hear meowing and I turn to see Mimi crawling from the top of the refrigerator onto the pull up bar we have one of the doorways to the kitchen. I see her squeezing her head between the rungs of the bar to try and meow at me because of course, she’s stuck. She swats at me a couple times before she lets me carry her down and she runs off because of course she’s scared of the pull up bar now.

Answer:

The total number of puns was 11. 

(purr-fect [perfect], paw-liday [holiday], fur-end [friend], Golden [Golden retriever], fly [fly bug], paw-sitively [positively], Meow-gical [Magical], Dr.Cat-kel [Dr.Jekyl], Mr.Hide [Mr.Hyde], Tail [Tale], Claw-some [Awesome])

Have a pet-astic [fantastic] rest of your day! 

Oh, now it is 12.

Hiss-terical [Hysterical].

13.

Bibliography

All sections of this article are student submitted via Google Form.