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Pooch's passing inspires sci-fi author's latest 'tail'

Four years ago, David Kelly 's beloved dog, Kyla, passed away. It was a rough time for Kelly and his wife, Hilary. “She was very important to both me and my wife,” he said. “Losing her was very hard on both of us.
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Sudburian David Kelly's story “How Much Is That Doggy?” is inspired by his dog Kyla, who passed away four years ago. The story is included in an American anthology of short stories. Supplied photo.
Four years ago, David Kelly's beloved dog, Kyla, passed away. It was a rough time for Kelly and his wife, Hilary.

“She was very important to both me and my wife,” he said. “Losing her was very hard on both of us.”

For the past 20 years, Kelly — an IT professional by trade who moved to Sudbury from Yorkshire, England a decade ago — has been dabbling in writing short science-fiction stories.

Inspired by Kyla, Kelly decided to write a story about an ailing elderly man who takes in a young stray dog.

True to Kelly's sci-fi roots, something strange happens — the dog in the story begins rapidly aging, while the protagonist seems to have found the fountain of youth.

“It's a story that came to me based on my experiences with my own dogs I've owned through the years,” said Kelly.

“I just kind of got this strange idea of this dog that was magic, helping this guy come to terms with his aging and so on.”

The story, entitled “How Much Is That Doggy?”, was included in Kelly's 2015 self-published book of 10 short science fiction tales, “Dead Reckoning and Other Stories.”

It also appears in a recently published collection of short stories about animals called “Paws For a Tale.” The book, in support of the SPCA, was put out by Sudden Insight, an American publishing company based out of California.

“I thought I'll send it along and see if they're interested,” Kelly said. “Quite often you send things off and it doesn't get taken up because there's a lot of competition. But in this case, I was successful.”

A little more than a year ago, Kelly got a bad infection in his foot, and ended up with a partial infection. While the experience has been difficult, he said his convalescence has allowed him to focus more on writing.

Both “Dead Reckoning and Other Stories” and “Paws for a Tale” are available for purchase online on Amazon.

“Dead Reckoning and Other Stories” retails for $4.89 as an eBook and $13.18 for a paperback. “Paws for a Tale” is currently only available in eBook format — although physical copies are coming soon — and costs $4.22.

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Heidi Ulrichsen

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