The Red Bow

The Red Bow is an award-winning 2004 short story by George Saunders. I'd had this author recommended to me and so jumped at the chance to read this story when I discovered it free online. This is a tragic tale, and isn't at all about what you think it is. You can read it online here. It begins,

Next night, walking out where it happened, I found her little red bow.

I brought it in, threw it down on the table, said: My God my God.

Take a good look at it and also I'm looking at it, said Uncle Matt. And we won't ever forget it, am I right?

First thing of course was to find the dogs. Which turns out, they were holed up back of the--the place where the little kids go, with the plastic balls in cages, they have birthday parties and so forth--holed up in this sort of nest of tree debris dragged there by the Village.

Well we lit up the debris and then shot the three of them as they ran out.