You could tell by the picture that Maxi was a good dog.

The stuffed dog that sat on Ray’s desk didn’t look like Maxi, but
that was OK, because Ray didn’t mind. When Ray had asked, what
kind of dog is Maxi? his father had said, well, we’re not sure.

But Ray discovered that Maxi looked like the old RCA Victor dog,
and also the Buster Brown shoes dog. Those were the dogs on the
records and old posters in his uncle’s shop. He told his mom and
dad, and the three of them laughed together.

Those were good days.

Ray had his room set up so it was easy to see all the things he
loved when he was lying in bed. If he turned a bit, or shifted his
glance one way or the other, or tilted his head a little, he could see
everything – except out the window. He had to get up to do that.

Over there was the Starry Night poster, which was one of his
favorite paintings. And over there, in the corner, was a small
collection of stuffed animals. He had a dog, a panda, a giraffe, a
lion, a monkey, and a unicorn. The rest of the collection was at the
shop.

Sometimes he would sleep with the stuffed dog, holding it tight
until it got warm, snuggling up to it and pretending it was alive.

 

Author: Scott Charles

Book title: The Illustrated Hen

Genre: Magical Realism/Literary Fiction

Publish date: October 2019

 

Blurb:

The Illustrated Hen is a series of short stories that reveal the events and inner world in the life of a young man who has a very vivid imagination. Every situation he encounters becomes part of an epic journey, and every path taken is an adventure along the way. In this novel a missing scrabble piece or a disrupted bingo game become the elements of a mysterious universal force.