Fiction Sample

Triggered by an Irish Setter (Excerpt

From Living Vicariously In Wyoming

by Abbie Johnson Taylor

The raucous barking jerked me from a sound sleep. I stared at my watch. It was only six in the morning, and I didn’t need to be up for another half hour. I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but the barking persisted. After about fifteen minutes, I climbed out of bed and peered out the window that overlooked the neighbors’ yard.

The day before, I’d glimpsed a moving van in the driveway. Now, as I scanned the yard, I found the source of the noise.

My Irish Setter, Bridget, nuzzled my knee. “I bet you’re curious about that dog,” I said. I stroked her silky head and floppy ears.

I looked at the dog in the yard and realized that it was also an Irish Setter. Like the Irish tenors I’d seen on television the night before, it had a good set of lungs. Even with the window closed, the barking was unbearable.

“Okay, Bridget, we may as well go for our morning walk now. I know it’s a little early for a social call on that dog’s owner, but this barking at six a.m. is ridiculous.”

 

Back Story

 

Years ago, Reader’s Digest had an advice column. I don’t remember the name of it, but I do remember one question that was asked one month, and that inspired the story from my new collection that I excerpted above.

One person asked what to do about a barking dog that woke her up first thing in the morning. I got one of those “what if” moments I get as a writer, and “Triggered by an Irish Setter” was born.

Please see below for information about my new short story collection, Living Vicariously in Wyoming, and where to get it. Thank you for reading.

 

New! Living Vicariously in Wyoming: Stories

Copyright 2025 by Abbie Johnson Taylor

Published independently with the help of DLD Books.

 

The scene shows an isolated barn off to the right in a snowy field, probably shortly after sunset. The foreground is a mixture of white, blue, and brown shades. Behind the barn is a line of dense, dark trees, many of them evergreens. The sky is the pink one sometimes sees at sunset, and a full moon hangs above the treetops to the left. The title is in plain black letters against the sky with a white glow behind them. The author’s name is in white letters near the bottom of the cover.

Image Description written by Leonore Dvorkin of DLD Books.

 

As defined in the first story, living vicariously means living your life through someone else’s. You’re invited to live vicariously through the lives of the people in these stories. There’s the lawyer who catches his wife in the act with a nun. A college student identifies with a character in a play. A young woman loses her mother and finds her father. And a high school student’s prudish English teacher strenuously objects to a single word in her paper.

In Wyoming, as in any other state, people fall in love, and sometimes relationships are shattered. Accidents, domestic violence, prejudice, and crimes all occur. Lives are torn apart, and people are reunited. Ordinary people deal with everyday and not–so–everyday situations.

The 25 stories in this collection, most of which are set in Wyoming, are about how the various characters resolve their conflicts—or not.

 

Click here for more information and ordering links.

 

@Abbie wears a blue and white V-neck top with different shades of blue from sky to navy that swirl together with the white. She has short, brown hair and rosy cheeks and smiles at the camera against a black background.

Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

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