A Mother’s Loss

A Mother’s Loss

By Arlene Gilmore

Mama started to count her babies: One, two, three, four, five . . . Five. Wait. She counted again: One, two three, four, five. She smelled them. No, one was missing. One had been left behind after she moved them from under the porch where they were born.

She went to him and pushed her nose against his leg. Then, she began to run back and forth to get his attention.

He understood. They went back to the porch where she’d given birth. He crawled under the porch to search for that last pup while she was waiting. When he found him, the puppy was dead. He carried the puppy from under the porch.

Cradling it in his arms, he presented it to Mama. She smelled it. She pushed up against it, but it didn’t move. She realized she had lost one of her children.

He carried the body back to the plac e where the other puppies were. Mama followed hi. He dug a hole and buried the puppy while Mama watched.

She smelled the fresh dirt and lied down for a moment. Then she went back to her children. Even though one of them was gone, she had work to do. She still had five puppies to raise.

A Mother’s Loss