Sitting alone in the office, the only room of the house with any lights on, the puppy starts to stir. I turn my chair to look at him, hoping he hasn't grabbed one of my bras again, mistaking it for a chew toy.
He's asleep. So I turn my chair back and stare at the blinking bar on the screen of laptop. Taunting me like it knows I've hit a wall. Like it knows that the words have stopped pouring from my mind like the water from the faucet.
The puppy sits up and barks. Zelda's taken his chew toy again and he's too small to get it back. Pushing away from my desk I make the deep sigh sound that signals my dog that she's done wrong. She scurries away, and sight given her size, and rolls onto her back. Shepard takes his chewy again and starts to gnaw on it. A moment later he's barking again.
I glance up through the pass way between my office and the kitchen.
The house is still and silent. I am all that remains here.
Me and my dogs.
The dogs start barking. They've moved on from the chewy and are now warring over the food dish. I get up again. Leaving the blinking bar flashing on the screen for none to see. In the back of my mind I wonder if I'll ever finish this book. I wonder if having dogs was a wise idea.
I love my dogs, but I'm raising them alone. No one helps them or me.
We are alone.
In the dark still house
With the bar flashing on my laptop screen.
As the puppy starts to bark again.