"Stray Magic" -- Diana Peterfreundfrom Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, edited by Jonathan Strahan
From Jonathan Strahan's Introduction:
Lovers of witches know, though, that Elphaba, as the Wicked Witch of the West was named by Gregory Maguire in his novel Wicked, is not the only option. Whether it be Hayao Miyazaki and Eiko Kadano's delightful Kiki or the studious but bungling Mildred Hubble, the industrious Hermione Granger or Diana Wynne Jones's rather wicked Gwendolyn Chant, the happily suburban Samantha from Bewitched or the darkly evil Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, a witch could be anyone.
The animal shelter that Malou works at is a no-kill shelter, but that doesn't necessarily make it any easier on an animal lover: there are plenty of animals who spend years there, constantly getting passed over for the younger, cuter, glossier-coated models. Her friend Jeremy, works at the county shelter—where animals are put down after a mere three days of residency—so he routes animals over to her whenever she's got room, especially the ones he thinks will need a few extra days to be adopted.
So, when he calls her to tell her that he's sending over an absolutely beautiful golden retriever, she's not surprised... until the dog arrives. Because this supposedly adorable dog is... not. Instead, she's "bedraggled, patchy-coated, [and] pathetic". Or, well, she looks like that most of the time... there are moments when she looks just as gorgeous as Jeremy claimed over the phone.
It doesn't take long for Malou to figure out that this dog isn't like any other dog she's met before.
In addition to the bizarre shifts in her appearance, she talks. No one but Malou seems to hear her, but talk she does. Turns out, she's looking for her master: and if she can't find him in three days, she'll die.
As you'd expect from something by Diana Peterfreund, "Stray Magic" is smart and funny:
Would you believe I'm thirty?
I press the mute button on my phone and look down at Goneril. "Really? That you're two hundred and ten in dog years—that's the part you think it's hard for me to believe?"
Good point.
...while still bringing the emotional goods. (And yes, I got more-than-a-little choked up a few times.)
Most importantly (in my mind), Goneril isn't super anthropomorphized: rather than sounding like a person in a dog suit, she sounds like a dog. She has the personality of a dog, and says things I could imagine a dog saying.
Great start to the anthology! Looking forward to the next story, which is by Frances Hardinge. Oooooo.
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Author page.
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Book source: Review copy from the publisher.