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The Dog's Tail Russell Edson

An old woman was absentmindedly stirring a pot with a dog’s tail.

When her husband asked her about the furry stirrer she said, It’s the dog’s tail, it came off in my hand.

When her husband asked her what she was stirring she said she didn’t know, that all her thoughts were now for the dog’s tail.

When her husband noticed that the dog was in the pot she said, Oh, is that where he is? I wondered where he got without his tail.

Her husband said, I’ll bet he likes that, being stirred with his own tail. It’s sort of like the tail wagging the dog.

The old woman said, I was just petting him, and it came off in my hand. I hope God wasn’t looking.

Her husband suggested that perhaps it wasn’t the dog’s tail that broke off, but rather the dog that broke off. . . .