Two Dogs

Young Couple was going on an adventure. At least, that’s what they kept saying. From the perspectives of their dogs, what they were doing was engaging in pure idiocy.

The two dogs lay in the dirt, idly chatting.

“First they move us out of our house and make us stay with these other people for weeks on end,” said Sophie.

“Tell me about it,” said Champ.

“Then, we come back to the house to discover it’s all empty, and there’s not even so much as a rug or a chair to lie down on!” said Sophie.

“Yeah,” said Champ.

“Then, they take us over to this little house that has some of our familiar-smelling furniture mixed in with a bunch of strange furniture.”

“Weird,” said Champ.

“And then we go back and forth between staying in the little house and staying with other people!”

“Ridiculous.”

“And then they take us someplace entirely different out in the middle of the woods, and lo and behold, they have moved the entire new house from where it used to be to here! Now whoever heard of moving a whole home?”

“Nobody,” said Champ.

“And then—and then!—we up and leave and travel all day! Cooped up in this little car and driving all day—and now we’re so far from home that all the smells are strange and the grass is wrong, and we’re staying in this new little house that they keep moving to different locations!”

“Unreal,” said Champ.

“It’s not like I ask for much. But every time I wake up and sniff the air, I don’t know where I am, and then I go outside, and it’s a completely different place than the last time!”

There was a long pause.

“Are you listening to me?” said Sophie.

“Wha—? Oh! Yes,” said Champ. “Totally. But it’s just that I thought there was…that there was…LOOK!”

Champ erupted in a volley of braying and straining against the leash holding him. Sophie glanced disinterestedly at the item that had so captured his attention. A plastic bag was blowing in the wind.

“The point is,” she said, after he had calmed down, “We have had enough. We must do something.”

Champ rolled his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye. “Do something?”

“Yes.” Sophie announced firmly, standing up and stretching.

“But I…doing something sounds scary,” Champ whined. “I don’t know if I wanna…”

“Now.” Sophie said firmly.

She walked over to the RV, Champ following tenuously behind. Leaning against the RV was a ladder, and on it was Young Man, leaning over, working on the roof.

“Now you listen to me!” Sophie said to Young Man. “You drag us all the way out here, only to tie us to a tree and ignore us while you stand all day up on that ladder doing doo-doo knows what…”

Young Man looked down over his shoulder. All he heard was “Roo roo! Roo roo roo, roo, roo roo roo…”

“Yes,” he said patronizingly, “I know. Just be patient.”

“I will not be patient,” Sophie said firmly, “I’ve had enough!”

She shoved the ladder with her nose and when that didn’t do anything, clawed at it with her paws until it toppled to the ground, Young Man landing beside it with a cry.

Sophie walked over and stood over him.

“Now you will pet me!”

Young Man groaned. His right hand drifted up and he rubbed the underside of her belly.

Feedback

As always, feedback is welcome.

Author Notes

I’ve always been interested in exploring more about non-human consciousnesses, especially those of animals, since, of the different types of non-human consciousnesses, they are the ones in most evidence available for observation.

Of course, in this story I’m not exploring it in much depth, just having a bit of fun with them. I do like to think that to our dogs, we must appear insane, and that in some ways that are quite correct and saner than we are.

But there is something to be said for certain types of insanity, of which hope and fatih are two.

Book of the Week

This week I reviewed Dodge in Hell, a science fiction novel that explores: what if humans could live forever by having their consciousnesses uploaded into a digital landscape that they interactively create with their minds?

In particular, Neal Stephenson (one of the most genius minds of modern science fiction) explores what it might look like to have a digital afterlife that is procedurally generated (an algorithm most well-known through its implementation in the popular game Minecraft). Read more here.

What’s Going on in My Life

Despite many last-minute setbacks and frustrations, Gretchen and I have packed up and left Tennessee. Today we drove through Kansas, following the westering sun as we westered along ourselves.

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Until next week!