Til Next Year by Judith Mercado
Stuart walked out his front door. His olive corduroy slacks and dun-colored cable-knit sweater were as ordinary as any Fall day. Only the burnished red coat of the toy poodle scampering beside him indicated that this was someone worth noticing on Halloween, that most exotic of all holidays.
Everyone did notice. Green munchkin or desert soldier, each child walking past—or just as likely his adult chaperon—invariably cried out, “Oh, what a cool dog. What is he?”
Stuart never answered, but kept walking. Some might even say he was rude.
Not the red poodle. He wagged his tail and ran around the costumed kid or adult, until Stuart yanked him back without a word.
For twelve blocks in one direction and the same distance back, Stuart and his high-spirited dog gave homage to a holiday that both atheists and believers can agree to celebrate.
Then Stuart and his dog walked back in their front door. Stuart took off his cable-knit top, folded it neatly and made it snug between two faded cardboard hatboxes in the hallway closet shelf. He sat in front of the ebbing fire, called the dog to his lap, picked up his bourbon glass, and emptied it. “Til next year,” he said to his dog. “Next year, we shall join the parade again.” The dog wagged his tail and buried his snout into Stuart’s side.
***
About the Author
Judith Mercado
Born: Puerto Rico
Now resides: Juno Beach, Florida
Online: www.judithmercadoauthor.blogspot.com
Bio: Judith Mercado’s multicultural fiction frequently explores conflicting religious perspectives, as well as tensions between the Latino and Anglo cultures. Sometimes her fiction simply examines the essential mystery of the human condition. Amazon.com selected her novel Choosing Sides as a quarterfinalist in its 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition. “Asunder,” a short story, won the literary category of the 2010 Literary Lab Genre Wars competition. Her short stories have been published in Nassau Review, North Atlantic Review, and other reviews. Essays have been published in Latina Voices. Her novels await publication.
***
image by Filmdirector.
