Taxidermy
By Alina Yudkevich


“Katie’s drawing, um, concerns me.”
Sigh. Taxidermy isn’t what most 10 year-old girls want to do when they grow up, sure. But a parent-teacher conference?
“Look, she’s lost pet after pet this year,” I reply. “The poodle ran away, the parrot cage got left open somehow, and the cat, well, you’ve heard what kids do on Halloween… Anyway, it’s been rough. Katie’s a big animal lover. Could this be her coping?”
Ms. Upton considers my theory. “Like she wishes she could make pets stick around forever,” she says, and I’m dismissed.
I decide to talk to Katie after dinner anyway.
“I can buy a lesson book if you’re serious about this, sweetie.”
She doesn’t look up from her coloring book. “I don’t need any lessons, Daddy,” she says, slowly pushing her closet door shut with her foot.
“Well, how about… a new puppy?”
Her eyes widen.
“Can it be a big dog this time?”


- - -
Alina Yudkevich is a 17th grader at the University of Georgia, studying English and Film Studies and working part-time at a particle accelerator lab. She enjoys pugs, video editing, running, b-horror, and exploring the unknown via Google street view.