Nicely crafted for the twist at the end to be as gut-wrenching as possible, especially the part involving the mom. The bit about all the stuff she has felt a bit exposition-y, but not sure the best way to get around it. Initially put off by all the italics, but by the end and with the little bit of dialogue it worked fine.

@THX….you are right, no need, I’ll work in the other too.

Maybe I should leave O.C.D out of the title.

Yep, new title and stripped most of the o.c.d reference out, much better.

I love the new title, and the minor edits seem to work well. Still a gut-punch of an ending.

Wow. I genuinely thought this was a tongue-in-cheek narrative about a humorous reaction to animals, especially the part about a child being told to let the “dog” sleep with it.

That was a dark twist. Fantastically done.