About Teaching Topaz
by Tory Temple
43 pages / 11000 words
ISBN: 978-1-61040-539-3
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Alexander Myers has graduated from vet school and is finally doing what
he loves: practicing medicine in a local animal hospital. His unique talent
of being able to hear the thoughts of animals is a big help in his job,
although it doesn’t really come in handy when trying to communicate with his
boyfriend, animal control officer Dylan Travers.
When Dylan rescues a black cat and encourages Alex to adopt it, Alex is
afraid that would endanger his elderly ferret, Karma. He and Dylan disagree
on whether or not the cat can be trained to leave Karma alone. So what
happens when two animal experts try to teach a cat to ignore its own
instincts? Check out Teaching Topaz to see who wins… the animals or the
humans.
Sample
Alex twirled some pasta around his fork and took a bite before
responding. “Speaking of cats,” Alex mused. “Amy Lin was holding this little
black one today. Know anything about that?”
Dylan wiped his mouth and took a long pull from his beer bottle. “Maybe.”
His eyes twinkled. Alex recognized the mischievous look. “He was cute,
right?”
“He was cute.” Alex stopped eating altogether and leaned back in his chair.
“What were you thinking, though? We can’t have a cat here while Karma’s
still around.”
The ferret heard her name from inside the cupboard and came slinking out
with a plastic lid firmly clamped in her teeth. She crossed the kitchen
floor with it and dropped it under the table.
Dylan reached down and picked her up. “Come here, you.”
Friend. Friend. Dylan play. Dylan.
“She wants to play.” Alex watched them together and smiled slightly. He had
kept his talent a secret from Dylan for months, and when Alex had finally
revealed what he could do, Dylan hadn’t believed him. It had taken a lot of
discussion and demonstration to convince Dylan that Alex could not only
understand animals, but hear what they were thinking. Sometimes Alex thought
that Dylan still doubted him, but who could blame him? Talking to animals
was something you only saw in stupid movies like Dr. Doolittle.
In any case, Alex didn’t really talk to them. Animals couldn’t
understand him; it seemed to be just a one-way communication. He could hear
what they were thinking, but not one animal had ever responded to Alex’s
thoughts in kind.
“She always wants to play.” Dylan stroked Karma’s sleek white fur. “Or
sleep.”
“Sleeping more and more, these days.” He watched as Karma lay in the crook
of Dylan’s arm and blinked her eyes slowly. “So, about the cat.” It wasn’t
like Dylan to avoid a subject, but he clearly was. “I can’t bring him home.”