Wiggles’s Christmas Wish

fiction by Larrie Wanberg It was Christmas morning in a tiny coastal village in central California that had little claim to fame, except that a dog named Wiggles was voted “Mayor” by the residents, as the Red Golden Retriever was the only dog in town. The family named him Wiggles as a puppy, because when he wagged his tail, his hindquarters shook from side to side with excitement. Later when the father of the household got elected as mayor of the village and as the dog went with him most of the time, the dog got the nickname Mayor. The city council revoked an old leash-law ordinance, so Wiggles could roam freely in the city limits, and he soon took on some of the behaviors of his owner. Every morning, through a doggie-door off the kitchen, Wiggles would begin to make rounds on his own. He