Waking at 4 a.m., Monday through Friday, necessitates I go to bed early, and since my best sleep time is before midnight, I try to get there before 7 p.m. Last night was no exception, and I was fast asleep shortly after my head hit the pillow.
Throughout the night, our dog Buddy will get up and go outside to do his business, then promptly return to flop beside me, usually on my left. He wakes me slightly, but I quickly return to sleep so it does not bother me.
Last night, we followed our usual routine. When Buddy returned from his bathroom break, I woke momentarily but was within seconds, if that long, back sleeping.
As I started towards REM, I had a peculiar feeling nagging at me. It felt like someone or something was watching me, and the idea finally forced me to open my eyes and look around the darkened room.
Sitting beside the bed to my right and looking intently at me was Buddy. I looked at him and thought what a good boy as I faded into unconsciousness again.
How long it took me to realize something was wrong, I do not know. But I became alarmed at knowing that since Buddy was looking at me and I was at him, what was behind me, on the left-hand side of my bed?
“What in the hell is in bed with me?” I wondered, feeling my heart rate spike.
Since I was lying on my right side, I gently reached back and felt a hairy something tucked into my back. Its chest wall rose and fell gently, indicating it was asleep, and trying not to panic, I slipped over the edge of my mattress and to the floor.
Cautiously, I stood up and flicked on my desk lamp. I breathed a sigh of relief to learn it was our neighbor, the Smith’s black lab, Ruger.
He had found our dog door, came in, and made hisself right at home. Rugar is a sweetheart of maybe a year.
With Rugar still asleep, I gathered my cell phone and dialed the Smiths, asking if they were missing their pup. They were and had just called my wife, who had turned her phone off for the night, to have us send him home, which laughingly I did.
Thank goodness it wasn’t a coyote pup or bear cub. At any rate, tonight, I will drop the cover on our outside dog door.
The Old Blog in the Desert 