I love the basic idea of the story, the cat lady who falls for a dog. The picture of the cats all lazing in the yard and a dog suddenly coming in and scaring them all away is such a powerful visual for me. It is really incredible!

         One suggestion I do have is that you could, when describing Harvey as a Tornado, you could say something like:

'Harvey would burst into my front yard, a tornado of energy and movement.'-or something like that...

It is a great story! Good luck in the contest!
Kaliko

If scolding letters can be wonderful, this one was. From the title, a person might think this a severe letter-and it was, but in a funny and uplifting way.

I love the directness of this 'me to me' letter, encapsulated in the first line. It is honest and focuses on the specific goals. Challange yourself, go out there and explore, seem very important.

Also the image of the 'prim New Englander' came through so clearly for me that I was sitting in front of the computer laughing for a minute or so.

Tone, personality, and humor, all were spot on in this letter. The only change I would suggest is in the sentence;

"Remember to be polite and encouraging, however, even with the ones you don’t like."

I would get rid of the 'however,' and mabe do something like:

Remember also to be polite and encouraging, even with the ones you don't like.

Keep up the great work!

         I thought that this was a great philosophical poem, asking many questions that are so relevant today. The question that struck me most was the question asking, "What if wars were fought on computers?/Would it be like a video game?"

         I found this to be an especially relevant question with the technologies in the military trending toward unmanned vehicles, weapons, planes, etc. that could be potentially controlled from hundred or thousands of miles away by a person sitting in front of a screen. Gone would be the personal elements of war, and it would indeed be a video game, but with very real consequences.

         In terms of the writing, I like that all of these questions about cancer, war, global warming, etc. such incredibly huge issues related to the continuation of humanity, is sandwiched between those less concerning. Things like if dogs were masters and wives and frozen food. Mundane questions to outsiders perhaps, but capable, in the mind of its owner, to bring other, grander questions to life.

         Changes I would suggest are mostly visual and flow-oriented. instead of having a question mark following each question, I would opt for a comma on the 'what if' questions. This way they would flow better into the 'would' questions they raise, and the question mark would make the 'would' question stronger.

         Resulting in something like this;

"What if wars were fought on computers,
Would it be like a video game?"

         Also, you might try playing with your spacing to make it seem like whoever is wondering/pondering these questions kind of falls into it, into the deeper questions before snapping out of it with the last, more reality based question.

         Maybe spacing it something like this;

line1
line2
 
line3
line4
 
line5
line6
line7
line8
 
line9
line10
line11
line12
line13
line14
line15
line16
 
line17
line18
line19
line20
line21
line22
 
line23
line24
line25
line26
 
line27
line28

A Great Read! Keep writing and posting!

Kaliko