It could smell frustration brewing,
Soon their life will turn to ruins.
Suddenly a silhouette appeared
In the hallway by the mirror.
The pug entered the moonshine.
Didn’t he have enough last time?
The surface started to get murky,
But Marty acted fast and quirky.
He walked past it without a whine,
Then barked and snuck right in behind.
The pug looked up, let out a grump,
He barked again, and then he jumped.
The mirror shook, leaned slowly forward,
Then it smashed against the floor boldly.
Bits of debris scattered over,
As the blood of former owners,
Leaked and drowned all in between,
Made it look like a crime scene.
Anxious whispers filled the hall.
A hand reached out for the wall,
Flipped the light switch. “Oh my, whoa…”
“Oh my goodness, Marty. No!”
“So much blood…” exhaled Chris,
“I’m afraid there’s no chance…”
Jane gazed at the dreadful trace,
Tears running down her face.
Chris pulled her close and tightly pressed,
Jane buried her face in his broad chest.
In this moment full of sorrow,
They felt how much they needed each other.
Both couldn’t say another word,
As something smallish, brisk and blurred,
Jumped at them from the right side,
And the tears quickly dried.
“Marty, buddy, you alright?”
Chris excitingly blurted out,
As both were patting the dog gladly,
The pug itself looked more than happy.
Jane examined Marty gently,
“There’s nothing on his belly,
Not a single cut or wound…”
Chris raised his head and looked around.
“Then where did all this blood come from?
Nothing bar the mirror broke.
It couldn’t come from there, right?
Looks like a boxing ring after a fight…”
Jane took her husband by the elbow,
“Let’s clean it up, then let it go,
Marty is fine, that’s all that matters,
Who cares what really happened?”
Chris nodded in agreement.
There was no point in finding reasons.
Chris didn’t know, nor did his wife,
How bravely Marty saved their lives.
Bits of the mirror ended up in a trash can,
Soon the floor was clean again.
The Bowns couldn’t help but give a hug
To their lovely naughty pug.
The pug who managed to conclude,
The story of a long-term feud,
That had spanned for over a hundred years,
Full of deadly, cruel affairs.
Gary Hascal (USA)
I ONCE BELIEVED
Gary Hascal is retired and living in California. He was born in Ohio and lived the majority of his life in Texas. Became a pastry chef specializing in French pastry and switched to mainframe computer operations, programming and Oracle Database Management.
I once bought the story was a trusting fool 
