Tapka

This story was an interesting read. The author's style of writing is unique, in a manner where you might even have to read a paragraph twice before it actually makes sense. The story is being told by an unnamed narrator. All the reader is disclosed with is that the narrator is a young boy in the first grade. He lives with his newly immigrated parents in a Toronto apartment building. The only other Russians in the apartment, the Nahumovskys, live directly below them. They are often over for dinner.

The young boy's life is changed when the Nahumovskys (who just moved from Russia as well) get their dog back from the vet. He falls in love with the female Jack Russell named "Tapka", in a stereotypical childish matter. Everyday at lunch the narrator and his female cousin, who is his elder by a year, dart to the Nahumovskys' apartment to play with Tapka. Everyday after school the narrator and his female cousin dart the Nahumovskys' apartment to play with Tapka. Everyday, all day, he plays with Tapka. He even earns a key to the Nahumovskys' apartment, so he may play with her while the homeowners are at their English class.

One day, however, the two children were playing outside with Tapka's favourite toy, a rag doll named "Clonchik". The narrator, feeling that Tapka had earned his trust, decides to take off her leash. They tirelessly throw the doll. Tapka, never seeming to get bored, retrieves Clonchik with much enthusiasm. However, as children often do, they duo gets into an argument. When the narrator's cousin gets frustrated and walks home, the narrator decides to throw Clonchik at her. Tapka runs for the doll, and gets distracted by a bird who happened to cross paths with the flying doll. She chases the bird. The bird flies over the intersection.

Chaos erupts on the busy Toronto road. The children rush over to see Tapka lying in her own blood. She's still breathing, he notices. A woman takes Tapka and the children to see a vet. The confused and shocked children try to communicate with the woman, but a language barrier stops anything from being understood. At the vet, Tapka is rushed to an animal version of an ER. The children's' parents and the Nahumovskys are called.

Although Tapka only suffered minor, treatable injuries, she died that day. However she didn't die in a physical sense, but in a philosophical way. As the dog was being treated, the narrator came to a sudden epiphany. He knew he would be stripped of the Nahumovskys trust and he would not be forgive for such stupidity. Tapka might as well as died, because the narrator would never see her again.