I woke up this morning and moved my feet across the bottom of the bed, waiting to touch that warm curled up chihuahua with my feet.
"Where is she?"
A thick world lifts from my bed. I hear the shower running. I'm awake, and she's not here.
I want to go back. I was dreaming so deep. I saw her inside someone's house, they had the door open. I called her and she came to me. I scooped her up and ran and jumped on a bus. I held her tight and then I heard my name being called. I brought her up to the bus drivers with clipboards that sat at the front of the bus.
"We've had a call. Miss, is that your dog?"
"Yes! This is her!", I was half excited and half pleading with them to understand.
"Look, it's her spot!", I outlined it on her chest, and I could feel the light fur under my finger.
"OH, this is the missing chihuahua," said the woman driver, "I have her flier right here." She flipped through a stack of papers and pulled out a Find Myrtle flier.
"And, look, she had no teeth here on the bottom." Sleep-Myrtle didn't protest as I ran my finger over her toothless underbite.
"And, if you could just feel here...", I demonstrated by holding her under her arms and lifting her up like Simba in The Lion King. "This is what she feels like." I could feel the shape of her ribcage and the weight of her in my hands.
They were convinced and they gave me a number to call the next day after I had her microchip checked. I mentally told myself to make that vet appointment as soon as I sat down. She needs to be checked out, too.
I sat back down with her in my lap. She wasn't excited to be with me, she was just still. I didn't think about that in my dream, but I'm wondering about it now.
And then, we were home. I was waking up and moved my feet across the bottom of the bed, waiting to touch that warm curled up chihuahua with my feet.
"Where is she?"
A thick world lifts from my bed. I hear the shower running. I'm awake, and she's not here.
