On this glorious morning I stood on the deck and cried, “It’s a good day to have a good day!” but did I believe it? The sun had not yet risen and there was an October chill in the air. Still, I was rested from a longer night’s sleep than usual, if stiff from the inactivity. What adventures might lay ahead for me and this young patient hound at my side, with her old compatriot panting across the room? Were our greatest adventures behind us, after all, and we were fated to live out our days pacing among these cluttered rooms, sifting through the debris of old books and forgotten papers?
“No!” I cried, and not just because the young dog had begun to harass her older sister. “No, I refuse to settle into a routine that leads to my death bed. There are years ahead that I mean to navigate, perhaps even circumnavigate, worlds to explore, sights to see, aromas to breathe in, perhaps even pleasures to touch. I may be moving more slowly, but I’m not dead yet.” From the corner of my mind emerged the melody of a long-forgotten tune, and I tasted the memory of a fine meal, to complete the journey of all five senses. “This is life, and I mean to live,” I murmured.
As if in agreement, the aging dog shifted from one side of the love seat to the side closer to me, and looked at me expectantly.
“What would you have me do?” I asked. “I fed you, I let you out —”
“What were you just talking about, silly?” the old dog said, and I gasped, because she had never spoken in 11 years. “Adventure! Let’s have an adventure!”
Of course, I wanted to shout, “You talked! You’re talking! How can it be that you’re talking?”
But instead I said, rather meekly, “What kind of adventure were you thinking about?”
I would swear that her panting shifted in a way that made it sound like she was laughing.
“The kind of adventure that begins with your dog talking to you, of course,” she said. “That’s the elephant in the room, isn’t it?”
“Oh my gosh,” I said. “Is this the beginning of another book that I’ll never finish?”
“There you go again,” the dog sighed. “Let’s just start the adventure and see where it leads.”
“All right, I guess I’m game,” I said. “What should we do first?”
“Let’s go back into the back yard,” said the old dog. “Did I mention that when we went out to do our business, we noticed an inter-dimensional portal hovering near the garden shed?”
“You most certainly did not!”
“Well,” she said, “I most certainly just did.”
The younger dog whined, but I slid the patio door open.
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