The Mark

by Sara Buku

My neighbour had a dog with a black mark on his nose. It was a medium-sized, dark brown German Shepherd, and my neighbour was an alcoholic redneck. He liked to put beer cans on his porch and draw on them with a Sharpie to later use as targets. He also liked to throw parties on Tuesday nights and work on junk cars on weekends. I didn’t really like him at all.

One day, as I arrived home from a long shift, I was relieved that, for once, the damn dog wasn’t barking at me. I figured it was asleep or digging something up instead of coming for my throat. Later that night, I was woken up by shouting. It sounded familiar, as the neighbour’s son got into trouble quite often, and then his dad would discipline him. I grabbed my glasses and rolled out of bed to approach the window. I looked outside right when the noises stopped. That was quick, I thought, and went back to sleep.

In the morning, when I went to my car, I saw my neighbour. We never exchange more words than necessary, but my curiosity got the best of me. I just had to see how he would react, so I turned to him:

”You know, I could get used to not being assaulted by your dog all the time.”

He sighed and looked at me as if I were the taxman banging on his door.

”Last night my kid was shooting the rifle, told him to aim at the black mark... dumbass got the wrong one.”

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Sara Buku is a humble university student based in Budapest, Hungary for whom writing in the third-person is frankly a bit jarring. She's never been published before, yet has a million stories to share. She sincerely hopes you will enjoy this.

 

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