The Canine Prize (short story)

Full disclosure: I wrote this. Yes, I am reviewing my own work. But hear me out... I wrote this story when taking a weekly short story challenge to write one short a week for a year. After a few stories, I stopped using the weekly and optional prompts, but the prompt for this story was 'a bright pink hat'. I used the prompt as the title too, and regretted it shortly afterwards. Regardless of the title - old and new - I think this fits what I call a 'classic Maratse story' and like all Maratse stories, it was fun to write. Naturally, I give it five stars!