Rhinoceros Dog.
By Aaron Barreras.
“How many times have I been measured, monitored, poked, prodded? The dog looks at me, unable to count. I hate it for this.”
Orange Dog It’s Good To Talk by Andy Shaw.
I see a dog with a rhinoceros horn, it stares at me through the glass as I check-in. The office is quiet, save for sounds of slippered feet sliding past. How many times have I been measured, monitored, poked, prodded? The dog looks at me, unable to count. I hate it for this. I hate flex appointments that do not blend, pill scripts that flow from no quill, twist-to-open bottles torqued in despair. Why am I here again? I ask. The receptionist doesn’t know so asks the computer. Ask the Dog, I say. The Doctor comes in but asks neither the computer nor the dog. He is kind, but all he does is measure, monitor, poke and prod. I return to my feet, non-slippered, they are stable, for which I am surprised. I stand, only to sit again as the receptionist asks the computer to make an appointment. Calendars flip, keys tap, phone calls-call, noises, done. I stare at the dog, it is small, it is porcelain. Porcelain cracks. This one hasn’t, yet. I will wait.
The Blood Pudding – November 10, 2025
Aaron Barreras is an unlikely writer who started life as a small-town boy from New Mexico and somehow stumbled into a career in film, animation and VFX. After making pixels all day, writing is a chance to escape the screen, which he stares at far too often, and to make words instead, which he doesn’t do often enough. Though no longer a boy, he still lives in a small town. Aaron and the desert have since made peace. Previous publications include: Lumina, New Limestone Review, and New American Press.
Artwork: Andy Shaw is a painter and contemporary artist . Andy’s work is in the collections of David Bowie, Marco Pierre White, Donna Karan and Sir Henry Rothschild. Exhibitions include the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, Museum of Arts & Design, New York, Gramercy Park Hotel, New York. You can find more about him here.