Short Story, Wordle

Broken Promises

Written for MLMM Monday Wordle #451.
Our prompt words this week are: banish,
sad, guilty, weak, push, cute, way, cheeky,
sweet, furry, trick, and battle. Thanks, Di!
Here’s where the prompt words took me.

Image by Me & Copilot

Wes felt guilty as his parents read him the riot act. Harry, the cute, furry Goldendoodle, whimpered at their feet. He had been so happy and sweet when they first brought him home; now he looked sad and neglected.

“You begged us for months!” Wes’ mother said firmly. “You promised you’d walk Harry, feed him, groom him. Instead, you push every responsibility back onto us.”

“You even tried to trick us by saying you walked Harry and brushed him while we were at the store,” his father added, disappointed.

Wes’ weak excuses crumbled under his parents stern gazes. He knew he lost the battle because of his own laziness.

“You let us down, Wes, and you treated Harry unfairly. If your cheeky attitude doesn’t change immediately,” his mother warned, “we will banish screen time completely until you prove yourself.”

Wes looked at Harry’s trusting eyes and felt ashamed. There was only one way to redeem himself: he had to make this right.


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This is “I Love My Dog” by Cat Stevens

All text and graphics are copyright for Nancy Richy and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

41 thoughts on “Broken Promises”

  1. Oh Wes, you naughty boy, all you have to do is love and look after your Doggie, and unconditionally he’ll love you, twice as much back … get off your selfish lazy, butt, and tend to handsome Harry’s simple and uncomplicated needs …
    — oh, I can’t do any betterer than Cat Steven’s lovely song, Nancy

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    1. Don’t you think most kids are like that, Ange? I certainly do. It’s a huge learning experience, taking care of dogs, but they give so much love in return.

      I adore Cat Stevens. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting him at a party back in 1973. We spoke for about 15 minutes and he was delightful – a beautiful man, inside and out. That’s a day I will always remember.

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  2. So relatable. The number of times I’ve heard people angry that their dog isn’t house trained, socialised or lead trained, then it turns out they thought because the parent dogs were, it was hereditary!
    Thanks for joining in Nancy. How’s the wrist bearing up?

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