as good as real

For Christmas every year,

I asked for a puppy.

a true companion who would never leave

my side.

When I was seven,

a brown package teared open

to reveal a soft, brown, adorable puppy

stuffed animal.

I named her Darby,

we became best friends.

With an imagination like 7-year-old me,

it was blissful.

We ran, we played fetch,

I fed her my scraps.

I'd take her for walks around the block

but all my neighbors would see

was a little girl

dragging a filthy stuffed dog

on a string tied like a noose

around the poor dog's neck.

When we'd go out,

my mother would beg me to leave

Darby at home, in my room, on my bed.

What kind of dog owner would I be

if I had listened.