When everything around you is sinking, sometimes it takes desperate measures to stay afloat

When Duncan Leland looks down at the garbage-strewn beach beneath his office window, he sees the words God Help Us scrawled in the sand. While it seems a fitting message-not only is Duncan's business underwater, but his marriage is drowning as well-he goes down to the beach to erase it. Once there, he helps a seagull being strangled by a plastic six-pack holder-the only creature in worse shape than he is at the moment. Duncan rescues the seagull, not realizing that he's being...

A second collection of critically acclaimed stories that affirm the bond among humans and animals

The relationships among human and non-human animals have captivated writers since the beginning of time--and the ways in which these relationships have evolved (and sometimes have not) continue to inspire writers of contemporary short fiction around the world. This carefully curated collection of stories explores the ways in which we live among--and often in conflict with--our non-human counterparts.

These stories feature animals from the familiar (pets and...