Today I randomly opened The Last Drive to page 145 and, with my eyes closed, pointed to the page. The word nearest my finger is “system.” That is our prompt today.
System by John W. Howell © 2026
“How do I get out of this?”
“I don’t think you can.”
“Why not?”
“You have to go through the system. No one just gets out.”
“But I don’t understand the system.”
“Ignorance is no excuse. If you do the crime, you need to do the time.”
“But that’s just it. I didn’t do anything.”
“If I’ve heard that once, I’ve heard it a thousand times.”
“So you’re not going to let me go?”
“Nope. Only the judge can do that.”
“I want my lawyer.”
“Of course you do. Until your lawyer gets here, you’ll stay put.”
“Can you and I make a deal?”
“Oh, so now you want to bribe your way out?”
“Call it a gift.”
“You have nothing I want. I would just sit down and behave myself before more charges are added.”
“What charges are on me now?”
“Let’s see. Destruction of property, assault with intent to harm, public indecency, trespassing, running loose without a license, and avoiding arrest.”
“It’s not my fault.”
“And why is that?”
“My owner left the gate open.”
“So that gave you permission to tear up the newspaper, bite the animal control officer, poop in the neighbor’s yard, run uncontrolled through the neighborhood, and dodge the animal control officer.”
“Well, yes. I was confused. Out of my element.”
“Tell it to the judge.”
Fiction Favorites 
I have to guess he’ll be on a short leash after this latest episode.
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Very short, I would suspect.
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LOL
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😊
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Wow, John! It sounds like the owner will have to control the pet more or have to get it back from animal control.
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Yeah, I think you are right, Tim. 😀
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😊
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I suggest raking the water dish across the bars until his owner appears.
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Ha ha ha. Good one, Craig.
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If in doubt, always blame the owner!
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Yes, indeed.
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LOL Well, hopefully, he is home soon.
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I’m sure he will be. Thanks, Kymber.
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Cut him loose. Lock up the owner.
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There you go.
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Oh no, maybe they’ll arrest the owner instead! 😱
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They should. Thanks, Cindy
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❤️❤️❤️
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😊
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This would so never be a cat…😹
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You are so right, Lois. In the first place, the cat never would have been caught. 😄
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I did have a cat that got into this very same predicament, l had to bail him out…he was TOMcat. We were living in Chicago at the time🐳
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I think I remember reading about that. 😄
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Lol! Too funny. It’s hard waiting for the judge. 😁
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Arriving soon. Thanks, Jan.
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A canine criminal! He’s be back behind bars soon enough!
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Yes, he will, Noelle.
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Hard rap to beat there.
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It sure is. 😄
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I have a feeling bail will be made 🙂
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I’m sure it will. Thanks, Denise.
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Some are just not meant to be tied up, John. He is a free spirit!
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I think you are right, Dale
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😁
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😊
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Ha ha leaving the gate open is a big mistake. Our neighbor had a block party and one of his guests opened our gate and let our three dogs out. When I came home I saw our big Leonberger Bronco standing in the middle of a big crowd and our Pug and Japanese Chin were standing right behind him. A lady was giving him an oeur d’oeuvre and then running off laughing and cheering. I stopped the car and put the dogs in the car and I said the party is over.
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The party’s over for sure. What kind of person would open a gate at a stranger’s house, you have to wonder?
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Well, our Bronco was an unusually big dog, who seemed to love parties, and people were drunk and we did not have a lock on the gate (we fixed that after this). I have no idea how much party food he ate but it was probably not good for his diet.
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Lucky he didn’t get sick.
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He rarely got sick. He had a stomach of steel. However, we had problems watching his weight. He was supposed to be 140lbs but he weighed 167lbs at one point. That was not us overfeeding, it was him counter surfing and getting food elsehwere.
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I can add that our neighbor on the other side fed him through the gate every day without us knowing because she loved him so much. We told her to stop.
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This is hilarious, John. 😂 That said, I loved hearing the dog’s rationale — very convincing.
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I love your endings that always catch me off guard!
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Ha ha ha, I love it!
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LOL. I love how these prompt develop. Good one, John. Wilson says if he was the judge, he’d be lenient with this miscreant. 😂
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I can count on Wilson. Thanks, Monika.
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