HOME | DD

Description
I don't know how others go to sleep or wake up; I don't even think that it is a topic that is discussed much. But I've noticed that when I go to sleep I seem to turn things off one at a time. I guess it’s like turning things off for the night on the way to bed. As I lie down and get comfortable I close my eyes and ignore the light on computer. It always blinks in standby, and it used to keep me up. Next, I stop listening to the outside. It’s like the fan in the corner doesn't exist. Everything else just follows as if on autopilot, as the other senses follow suite and turn off isolating myself in my own little night time world. As you might have guessed I'm a really hard sleeper to begin with.

So when I licked the roof of my mouth the next morning I immediately noticed that something was defiantly wrong. The first thought of the day came to me so slow it was almost painful, "Okay, let’s try that again." My heart plummeted as my fears were confirmed. As the strange tongue that I was now in control over slid past several long and sharp teeth. My jaw and eyes clenched shut. Fighting a nauseating panic and what felt like a mild hangover I reasoned with myself to test my body to see If I was injured. I never really thought about it till now. Though, I don't think it really was anything that a passerby would notice. I was just a dog lying on its side randomly twitching in the alley way. If anything, I guess it would seem that this dog was having a really vivid dream. Oh, how I wished I was having a dream.

But after all that jerky movement I found out I was not injured at all. Nothing hurt when moved and breathing came just as easily as the day I was born. I just couldn't place why my arms didn't bend in the right place, or why I could bring both my legs right up underneath myself so freely. Just then I noticed I wasn't listening to anything and I still had both eyes shut tightly. In an instant I knew that I was most undoubtedly outside my house and far from home. I could hear the cars on the street, the echoes of civilization in the alley way. And I could feel the dirt in my fur. A cold shiver ran up my spine as I cringed. Getting covered in dirt wasn't something I put very high on my daily to-do list.

Opening an eye I was sure that I showed a little white around the edges as I looked furtively at my surroundings. If alleyways were a land mark this one was doing a poor job of making a name for itself. A few dumpsters and the usual litter were blowing about in a nonchalant manner. From what I could see there wasn't any glass around me and I thought I should try to roll over and get my legs under myself before standing up. Just that simple task of rolling over was difficult to accomplish.

The best way I can describe my frustration with the first attempt to roll over is like a driver who is sitting in the car cursing because he is stuck in the mud and only one wheel is spinning. You see, I tried to get my head up where the rest of my body could follow but I could not for the life of me get my legs to cooperate. The leg in the back that I was laying on was just kicking as the other did nothing more than come up to my belly. I took a couple of deep breaths before trying again, and this time I was able to heave myself so that the world was no longer sideways.

Still slightly scared and nervous I didn't seem to be as nauseated as before. Lying upright I now had a better of the alley way. There wasn't anything new, but I didn't want to have someone sneak up on me and start any trouble. "Wait a sec," I thought as a new Idea came to mind, "I have a snout, I wonder what it smells like round here." I've never had that great of a nose to begin with and a brighter and happier thought hadn't crossed my shocked mind all morning. So with little hesitation I put my nose to the ground and took a deep sniff getting as much smelling power out of that one inhale as I could.

I howled. I howled with every last ounce of breath I had in my lungs. I sounded as if I had just lost a limb as I put my nose between my paws and rubbed. I rubbed my nose on the ground and in the air where ever possible to get the smells out. This effort wasn't left in just my nose and head, my entire body reflected shock and betrayal as I rolled over standing briefly before falling down from the shaking of my head. I don't know how long I kept that up whining, whimpering, and sneezing all the while looking and sounding like a rabid dog. I was oblivious to everything else other than my nose and all the information it was giving my mind. It was like I was standing in the center of a gymnasium filled with people and all those people are trying to tell me something different at once.

Then it all stopped, I was being held firmly but gently. “Gabe, Gabe calm down. It’s okay.” A voice said. “Calm down.”

I looked up at my sister, my eyes were still watering and I had drool all over my face and forelegs. “How did you know it was me?” I said hoarsely.

“You are the only person I know who would freak out about getting dirty” She spoke with an impish grin. “And roll in the dirt crying over it.”

Description
I don't know how others go to sleep or wake up; I don't even think that it is a topic that is discussed much. But I've noticed that when I go to sleep I seem to turn things off one at a time. I guess it’s like turning things off for the night on the way to bed. As I lie down and get comfortable I close my eyes and ignore the light on computer. It always blinks in standby, and it used to keep me up. Next, I stop listening to the outside. It’s like the fan in the corner doesn't exist. Everything else just follows as if on autopilot, as the other senses follow suite and turn off isolating myself in my own little night time world. As you might have guessed I'm a really hard sleeper to begin with.

So when I licked the roof of my mouth the next morning I immediately noticed that something was defiantly wrong. The first thought of the day came to me so slow it was almost painful, "Okay, let’s try that again." My heart plummeted as my fears were confirmed. As the strange tongue that I was now in control over slid past several long and sharp teeth. My jaw and eyes clenched shut. Fighting a nauseating panic and what felt like a mild hangover I reasoned with myself to test my body to see If I was injured. I never really thought about it till now. Though, I don't think it really was anything that a passerby would notice. I was just a dog lying on its side randomly twitching in the alley way. If anything, I guess it would seem that this dog was having a really vivid dream. Oh, how I wished I was having a dream.

But after all that jerky movement I found out I was not injured at all. Nothing hurt when moved and breathing came just as easily as the day I was born. I just couldn't place why my arms didn't bend in the right place, or why I could bring both my legs right up underneath myself so freely. Just then I noticed I wasn't listening to anything and I still had both eyes shut tightly. In an instant I knew that I was most undoubtedly outside my house and far from home. I could hear the cars on the street, the echoes of civilization in the alley way. And I could feel the dirt in my fur. A cold shiver ran up my spine as I cringed. Getting covered in dirt wasn't something I put very high on my daily to-do list.

Opening an eye I was sure that I showed a little white around the edges as I looked furtively at my surroundings. If alleyways were a land mark this one was doing a poor job of making a name for itself. A few dumpsters and the usual litter were blowing about in a nonchalant manner. From what I could see there wasn't any glass around me and I thought I should try to roll over and get my legs under myself before standing up. Just that simple task of rolling over was difficult to accomplish.

The best way I can describe my frustration with the first attempt to roll over is like a driver who is sitting in the car cursing because he is stuck in the mud and only one wheel is spinning. You see, I tried to get my head up where the rest of my body could follow but I could not for the life of me get my legs to cooperate. The leg in the back that I was laying on was just kicking as the other did nothing more than come up to my belly. I took a couple of deep breaths before trying again, and this time I was able to heave myself so that the world was no longer sideways.

Still slightly scared and nervous I didn't seem to be as nauseated as before. Lying upright I now had a better of the alley way. There wasn't anything new, but I didn't want to have someone sneak up on me and start any trouble. "Wait a sec," I thought as a new Idea came to mind, "I have a snout, I wonder what it smells like round here." I've never had that great of a nose to begin with and a brighter and happier thought hadn't crossed my shocked mind all morning. So with little hesitation I put my nose to the ground and took a deep sniff getting as much smelling power out of that one inhale as I could.

I howled. I howled with every last ounce of breath I had in my lungs. I sounded as if I had just lost a limb as I put my nose between my paws and rubbed. I rubbed my nose on the ground and in the air where ever possible to get the smells out. This effort wasn't left in just my nose and head, my entire body reflected shock and betrayal as I rolled over standing briefly before falling down from the shaking of my head. I don't know how long I kept that up whining, whimpering, and sneezing all the while looking and sounding like a rabid dog. I was oblivious to everything else other than my nose and all the information it was giving my mind. It was like I was standing in the center of a gymnasium filled with people and all those people are trying to tell me something different at once.

Then it all stopped, I was being held firmly but gently. “Gabe, Gabe calm down. It’s okay.” A voice said. “Calm down.”

I looked up at my sister, my eyes were still watering and I had drool all over my face and forelegs. “How did you know it was me?” I said hoarsely.

“You are the only person I know who would freak out about getting dirty” She spoke with an impish grin. “And roll in the dirt crying over it.”