Be the Dog

Shane Kowalski

  On the weekends, she was the dog to a rich couple in the country. There was no money in it, just real, trembling pleasure—that private currency.
   Monday would come and she’d go back to her life, which she thought of as her “other life,” though it took up a larger portion of her life than the portion that was her “real life” as the dog to the rich couple.
  She thought this was funny but also maybe sad. She couldn’t tell anyone about it—her “real life.” But that’s also probably part of the reason why it was her “real life.”
  Occasionally, for a moment, her “real life” and her “other life” would converge when a coworker would ask her what her plans were for the weekend and she would say, “Going for a long walk.”

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Headshot of Shane Kowalski

Shane Kowalski lives in Pennsylvania. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in EPOCH, The Iowa Review, Conjunctions, Fence, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere. He is the author of the story collection Small Moods (Future Tense Books).

Cover of Iowa Review Fall 2024

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Iowa City, Iowa

The University of Iowa

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