Yesterday was Chance The Dog's birthday. He's now reached the esteemed age of five. Unfortunately, this year's birthday kind of got lost in the shuffle and we had to postpone the celebration one night. He didn't mind. Tonight we took him out for a romp at the school and gave him gifts from the 99 Cent Store -- a giant tennis ball, bag of treats, and rawhides. (Yeah, we did that. It's normal.) Charlie made him a cake -- bread, sliced into quarters, spread with peanut butter, and drizzled with honey. We put a little candle on top and lit it (which scared him) and sang "Happy Birthday." It took him four seconds to eat his cake.

In years past, we've celebrated dog birthdays. One year, when Charlie was two and Eli The Super Dog turned ten, we had an all-time record attendence of five dogs. Eric (neighbor and dog-wizard-hat-provider) brought Casey and Mickey; my sister Jenny brought Hokey Wolf and K.C., and then of course there was Eli. I made a dogfood cake and gave the dogs individual treats. We attempted to put party hats on them (except for K.C. who was a nasty little thing), and took pictures. (What good are dogs if you can't put hats on them once in a while for your own enjoyment?)

So in honor of Chance The Dog's birthday, I wrote a very short little story, "Hiccup The Burping Dog's Birthday Party." Tonight, I read it to him. He just looked confused.

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