060. Man's best undead friend

Not everyone was happy to have Booster back.

Tim's English bulldog had chased a rubber ball over the hedge, into traffic and onwards to puppy heaven no less than a week ago. So when he showed up at their front porch, drenched in rain and accompanied by a thunder storm four days later, Tim's parents greeted the dog with a guarded distrust. They'd seen Pet Sematary, the 80s horror flick where animals came back to torture their owners, and they were both well-versed in Zombie-lore. Tim's dad was still banned from Pacific Fair for asking too many questions about mall security.

"We'll go to Robina, Mary" he'd tell Tim's mom, "it'll be less crowded and easier to secure".

It was fair to say that neither of Tim's parents had much trust for things that came back from the dead.

But resurrection didn't bother Tim. He'd gone to Sunday school and Zombie-Jesus sounded like a nice guy, if a little preachy. Tim didn't care that Booster looked a little ragged these days. Or that his eyes were yellow and non-responsive. Maggots had chewed up most of his ears and all the way to the bone on his right back leg. He smelled a little weird and he'd changed his awkward run, a forward-falling rolling heap of fur, to a noiseless levitation.

Since Boosters return the neighborhood cats had started to spontaneously self-combust and his parents had to travel to the Post Office to retrieve their mail. Their last mailman was still in therapy. Switching his genitals and his nose back to where they belonged was going to cost Tim's parents a lot of money.

Tim's parents had the cultural background to be suspicious of Boosters return. They also had enough grown-up sense to fear his abilities. But Tim was just happy to have his dog back.

He grabbed a stick and let it fly. It sailed across the backyard and landed near the pine tress. "Go get it, boy!" Booster panted with excitement, his big pink tongue rotting outside his mouth. He squinted his dead eyes together, as if he focused really hard, and then the stick evaporated with a flash only to appear again a lightning-moment later between Boosters teeth. "Good dog! Such a good dog!" Tim buried his face in the dog's fur and Boosters barked with delight.