Good Dogs

I have these two mongrel dogs that I'm still not quite sure how I ended up with. One is a cocky little whippet mix that was rescued from the pound. The other is a total baby dog that's afraid of his own shadow. He showed up at my cousin's house one day all scratched up and scared of everyone. My cousin couldn't keep him, so I went over to see if maybe this dog and I would be a good match. I took one look at his sad little face and instantly fell in love. I think he did too because he came running over to me and sat right down on my lap. I'm still not sure what kind of dog he is. He's got a fat pit bull looking head with the soft face of a lab, and his hair color and patterns are trying to look like German Shepherd markings but don't quite cut it. And to top it off, he's only 40 pounds, so there has to be something smaller in there. He and my other dog aren't the best dogs I've ever had. They do bad things they know they shouldn't sometimes and on occasion get on my nerves, but they're still good dogs, and last night they really proved that they were exactly what dogs are supposed to be.

Last night I fell asleep on the couch trying desperately to finish reading the last 80 pages or so of Stephen King's IT while my boyfriend was on the other couch watching a movie, but it was a losing battle and I nodded off just after page 1000. I slipped into the normal world of my strange and sometimes utterly boring dreams (don't you hate when you dream that you're at work answering emails or that you're in the grocery store debating which brand of chicken to buy?). My dream started out normal enough as far as dreams go; I rode a roller coaster through a lake, ran away from some terrible demon creatures, and flew through the air in my truck just like it was Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang.

Then I got back to my house, and the terror began.

You see, I fell asleep while reading it at the very end where they're trying to kill the evil monster that takes the shape of whatever scares you. There's a ritual that the kids do to try to kill the thing, and it is strangely similar to stories I hear from people who have dropped acid. It wasn't terrifying like other parts of the book had been, but it was strange and though provoking and kept me on the edge of my seat. And, it seeped into my dream.

I had just gotten into our living room and went to go sit on the couch when my cocky little whippet dogs started growling at me and trying to attack me. In my dream I realized it wasn't my dog at all, but rather the evil things that plagued the town of Derry in Stephen King's novel had taken hold of my dog and was using her against me.

I tried to leap over the couch just as she bolted towards me, but I didn't leap over the couch like I could in real life, I leapt above the couch. Our house has vaulted ceilings anyway, but as in the bent rules of the reality of dreams, our 20 foot vaulted ceilings grew into 50 foot vault ceilings, and my tiny little whippet mix jumped 30 feet in the ceiling and sand her teeth right into my neck and lower jaw. And then we were in the darkness as we spiraled into that strange, tiny huge place that is made of everything and nothing, where we were everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time.

It scared the crap out of me.

I bolted up screaming at the top of my lungs like a harpy. My boyfriend sits up with a stunned expression, looks at me, and screams, which makes me scream again because in my delirious state I have no idea why he would be screaming unless there were something terrible standing behind me waiting to cut my head off or something. Both of my dogs, yep my chicken baby dog too, come rushing in barking and growling with their hair standing up and their fangs bared and stand on either side of the couch ready to rip whatever was hurting their mom to shreds. And then, when I stop screaming and sit there panting and clutching my chest, fighting back tears because I'm so bewildered and trying to make sense of everything, my boyfriend says "what the hell?" AND GOES BACK TO SLEEP!!!!!! My hero (insert eye roll here).

So there I am, clutching my chest all freaked out and trying not to cry while my super awesome boyfriend falls back to sleep like nothing happened, and who do you think is right there by my side? Yep, my dogs. Both of them snuck onto the couch with me and just laid there, not fighting with each other for attention like they always do, but just laying there with me in a quiet, comforting way while I got my bearings and calmed down.

And then I started laughing.

It started as a little giggle when I thought about the whole thing, me screaming, my boyfriend screaming, me screaming again, and then my little giggle turned into full blown laughter the more I thought about it. The whole thing was so much like something from a comedy movie that I burst into uncontrollable laughter and had to go outside to let it out. Of course my dogs followed me and sat there wagging their tails with those goofy little looks on their faces as they stared at me laughing so hard I was crying and clutching my stomach.

When I finally calmed down I went back to the couch to try to fall back asleep. Both of my dogs followed me and settled down on the floor next to me, their ears perked, their eyes alert and watchful. I fell back to sleep almost instantly knowing I had two dogs that were there to protect me, to comfort me, and to laugh with me when the whole thing was over. Last night they were everything dogs should be; guardians and companions who are there for you no matter how frightened and tired they may be. Yes, I've got a couple of good dogs.