Issue 4: A Grin Without

Night Fears by James Dorr

He laid the cat in the hole, petting it one more time, gazing into its now-glazed eyes, then, trowel by trowelful covered it over with good, rich garden earth, tamping the grave's top into a low mound.  He said a short prayer, even though he knew that prayers didn't matter -- not any more.  After all, animals didn't go to heaven or hell like preachers said people do.

The Funeral Procession by Tip Peyregne

As they loaded the coffin into the funeral carriage, six black cats jumped on top of it. The minister tried to shoo them away, but they hissed an arched their backs and refused to budge. Finally, the decision was made to continue with the procession, and those six black cats rode all the way to the cemetery..."