In the Park, by Henry Trinder

She was holding a stick and knew dogs like sticks so she brought it to the dog and tried pushing it inside its mouth, and the dog just sort of sat there as the stick moved against its gums and pushed against its cheek, and the children behind her laughed and were laughing still when they said look at her look at her, as if she was the funniest thing they had ever seen in their short short lives, and then one laughing boys looked at his finger and looked at the dog and looked at his finger and stuck it inside his mouth to see what it would feel like, must feel like, and no one was laughing anymore because someone’s mom was saying something and the child who was holding the stick was skipping happily on the sidewalk, the dog was running after a ball, and no one was laughing because there was nothing to laugh about anymore and it looks like it might rain at any moment.