Cliff Steps On It

Cliff walks up and steps on the corner of the cake leaving the pool of spit and phlegm to continue mingling with the icing on top uninterrupted. He raises the toe of his well worn dress shoe to the dog. It launches forward without further invitation and eagerly licks the icing and cake from the bottom of Cliff’s shoe. It flattens its tongue against the shoe firmly and runs it up the entire length of his smooth soled shoe. Once it's satisfied that the bottom of his shoe is as clean as possible, it starts gingerly licking between the seam of the toe and around the sides.

Cliff laughs and pulls his foot back. “Okay, boy. I didn’t want a complete shoeshine. Someone’s being a greedy lil’ piggy today, aren’t they?”

The dog barks loudly in agreement.