Ben was a Golden who lived on a farm down the road. We called him Spirit Dog because he had to cross the highway to get to our house, and never got hit.

Emmet was a mutt who got abandoned by the road, his face kicked-in. My parents took him in and called him Screw Face, because he looked like a Dick Tracy character.

We lived in the country in a big house overlooking the valley. Ben would chew on the rocks my mom kept in the houseplants, and piss on the floor. Emmet had seizures from his head injuries. Chumley, our other Golden, had no problems.

The night before Emmet left, I had a dozen musician friends over. I put them all in African robes, made some recordings, and then the snow started. In the morning, Drew let Emmet out the side door and we never saw him again. He broke through the Invisible Fence and left no prints. I looked for his body down by the creek, but slipped, fell face-down, broke my glasses, and had to tape them for a job interview the next day.