The tennis ball
The essential item in the dog’s toy box.
The lifespan of the tennis ball.
Throw, fetch, endless running, slobbering on the nylon shell, sticky fingers.
The ball that is lost.
The ball that is chewed apart.
There they lay, in their grassy grave.
The ball that is mown to pieces by the park keeper.
What stories they could tell, of the play they had with their dog, back when they were the number one toy.