Hey guys. I'm here to unpack a harrowing childhood experience. There's a chance you've lived through it too. Come hither. We'll process it together.
I recently remembered something troubling about my 4th grade curriculum.
My class was broken up into groups. Each group was assigned to read and then present a book about a dog. I love dogs! I was excited.
But it didn't take long for me to realize the horrifying direction these books were going in.
These weren't happy dog stories like Because of Winn-Dixie. They were absolute nightmares. In every single book...the dog dies. A GRUESOME FUCKING DEATH.
I didn't ask for it. My classmates didn't ask for it.
And I couldn't help but wonder...Were we alone in this suffering, or were others subjected to it too?
Were you forced to read Old Yeller?
Or Where the Red Fern Grows?
What about Stone Fox?
Or the absolute nightmare that is Sounder?
How about White Fang??
I guess it wasn't enough to have to read books where the main plot lines involved dogs dying. The torture continued when we were forced to read stuff where it was snuck into the side plots too.