The Pet Dog and the Plot

The silence of my house hit me first.

My sweet, goofy rescue dog, Buster, wasn't there to greet me.

He was just gone.

My estranged husband, Mark, and his new girlfriend, Lisa, spread a narrative that ruined me: Sarah Miller, the animal shelter manager, was so negligent she lost her own dog.

My work suffered, volunteers pitied me, and online comments shamed me publicly, painting me as an irresponsible fraud.

They paraded around town with a new, expensive designer puppy, while the loss of Buster became a hole in my life that never closed.