Whacking Mokie

Mookie Spitz reads Whacking Moki, a short story based on a true story that captures the brutal clarity of nature and the unexpected bonds forged in the face of death.

The tale follows Dieter Dunt, a former Alabama radical who reinvented himself as a diner owner in rural Wisconsin, and his friendship with Leo and Tess Tesla, a Jewish couple from Chicago who escape urban sprawl by immersing themselves in the rugged northern wilderness. Their bond is as unlikely as it is profound—an ex-Nazi sharing scotch and survivalist wisdom with city-dwelling Jews—highlighting the paradox of finding humanity in the most contradictory places.

When the Teslas’ beloved but ailing cockapoo, Moki, reaches the end of his life, the couple turns to Dieter for help. What follows is a stark, almost ritualistic confrontation with mortality: a hole in the cold earth, a rifle shot, and the visceral shock of witnessing death up close. In that moment, the roles invert—the supposed barbarian becomes the teacher, guiding the couple through an experience that strips away fear, ritualizes grief, and reveals a hard-earned respect for life’s final act.

Mookie weaves humor, darkness, and poignancy into this narrative, exploring how survival sometimes means embracing the primitive. It’s a story about unlikely kinship, about facing death without flinching, and about how the wild has a way of teaching lessons civilization forgets.

Blog Post with the Original Short Story

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