During September we asked you to send in your flash fictions on the topic of pets, animals and the natural world. Thank you to all those who took the time to enter. All the Autumn Voices staff held a secret ballot to choose our favourite and the eventual winner was:
Roger Knight, who’s 70 and from Fife!
Many congratulations to Roger who is the recipient of Polly Pullar’s book, A Scurry of Squirrels. A delightful book for the fast approaching Autumn season.
Thanks also to the publisher Birlinn for their kind donation of the book as a prize.
Without further ado, here’s Roger’s entry:
Morning treat
After rising and showering each morning, I give the dog his breakfast before going on our walk along the old railway track.
Despite his training as a guide dog, he has since turned feral and chases pheasants and deer whenever he comes upon them. On our return we share a slice of hot buttered toast and marmalade together which has become something of a daily ritual.
The sound of the toaster on ejection captures his full attention and, sphinx-like, he crouches at my feet as though in supplication, patiently and intently awaiting his portion, drooling all the while with rapt attention.
Once gulped down he licks his chops in appreciation and I bask in the satisfaction that I have begun another day knowing that I have made this old, retired guide dog’s life a little bit better and in turn momentarily dispelled some of my own gloom.
The sense of sheer mutuality and satisfaction uplifts me and confirms that the smallest things as well as the most mundane can still be gifts.
I am reminded of that enduring quotation of Emerson’s: ‘. . .to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.’
by Roger Knight
Our next flash submission is “Proud to be” – Open to Black Britons or Scots.
The closing date for that is 31st October 2021. Enter here.