A Kiss Before the Apocalypse Read Online Free PDF

inner door, Marlowe let out a pathetic yelp that suggested he was in great need of his master.
    “Hang on, pally, help is on the way.”
    He let himself into the house and was immediately set upon by the jet-black Labrador with the furiously wagging tail. The dog’s tail had become the legendary scourge of knickknacks up and down Pinckney Street, able to clear coffee tables with a single exuberant swipe.
    Remy tossed the mail onto a hall table and bent down to rub the excited animal’s big head, ruffling his black, velvety soft ears.
    “Hello, good boy. How are you, huh? Were you a good dog today?”
    Marlowe’s deep brown eyes locked on to Remy’s. And he responded. “Good boy. Yes. Out? Out?”
    It was another angelic trait that Remy Chandler had chosen not to repress: the ability to commune with all living things upon the earth. If it had a language, no matter how rudimentary, Remy could understand and communicate with it.
    “Okay, let’s get you out, and then I’ll give you something to eat,” he told the dog as they walked down the hall and through the kitchen to the back door.
    “Out. Then eat. Good. Out, then eat,” Marlowe responded, his tail still furiously wagging while he waited for Remy to open the door into the small, fenced-in yard.
    The dog bounded down the three steps, his dark nose sniffing the ground for the scent of any uninvited guests, as he trotted to the far corner and squatted to relieve himself. Remy smiled, amused by the expression of relief on the dog’s face. Even though he was a male dog and nearly four years old, Marlowe still insisted on squatting to urinate. Maddie had suggested he was a slow learner and would be lifting his leg in no time. Remy wasn’t so sure.
    The dog started to poke around the yard again.
    “Hey, do you want to eat?” Remy called from the doorway.
    Marlowe looked up from a patch of grass, his body suddenly rigid. “Hungry. Eat now, yes,” he grumbled in response, then ran toward Remy, who barely managed to get the screen door open in time.
    Marlowe hadn’t eaten since six that morning and was obviously ravenous. But then again, when wasn’t he?
    Remy mixed some wet food from a can with some dry, Marlowe standing attentively by his side, closely watching his every move. A slimy puddle of drool had started to form on the floor beneath his hungry mouth.
    “Almost ready, pal,” he told the Labrador. “I hope you appreciate the time I put into the preparation of your meals.”
    “Appreciate,” Marlowe replied. “Hungry. Eat now?”
    “Yes, now,” Remy confirmed, setting the plastic bowl down on a place mat covered with images of dancing cartoon Labradors. “Let me get you some fresh water.”
    He picked up the stainless-steel water bowl as Marlowe shoved his hungry maw into his supper. He emptied the bowl and rinsed it thoroughly, then filled it with cold water. In the seconds it took Remy to do that and return to the plastic place mat, Marlowe had already finished his meal and was licking the sides of the dish for stray crumbs.
    “More?” Marlowe asked, looking up at his master.
    Remy rolled his eyes and shook his head. “No. No more. Maybe later you can have an apple, if you’re good.”
    He ruffled the dog’s head and went to the counter to prepare a pot of coffee.
    “Now better.”
    “What did I just say?” Remy said, scooping coffee into a filter. “Later, before bed.”
    Marlowe lowered his head and watched quietly as his master poured water into the coffeemaker. The dog carefully moved closer to Remy, casually sniffing at his pant leg.
    Remy leaned down and thumped the dog’s side. It sounded like an empty drum. “What do you smell there, big boy? Anything good?”
    “Female,” Marlowe answered. “Smell female. Where?”
    Remy squatted in front of his friend and rubbed the sides of his black face. “Maddie is at the get-well place. I’ll bring you to see her tomorrow.”
    The dog thought for a moment and then kissed Remy