A Soft Place to Rest

“Do you think they can see us up here?”

“What do you mean Toto?”

“Do you think they can see us up here like the balloons that KimKim always let go of?”

“I don’t think so Toto”

“Do you think we might find the balloons that she lost?”

“Maybe Toto”

“Oh.”

Some geese were approaching and I started wagging my tail. I couldn’t wait to catch them! Now I had the advantage of the skies too and they couldn’t just fly away!

I started sprinting toward them, my mouth filling with saliva. I love geese!

But as I got to them, they just flew right through me! Honking and laughing at me like they always do. That’s not fair.

I skidded to a stop and looked back pouting.

Maybe I needed to try again.

I bowed my head, ready to play, and bound at the loud smelly geese! I was so fast, like the wind! Come here geese!

I leapt through a fluffy cloud and it felt so funny, like the steam from the bathroom when Mom took hot showers and forgot to close the bathroom door. I pushed myself even harder, but these geese were faster. Stupid smelly geese.

Whatever.

“Are you coming Toto?”

I stopped and turned to look behind me, cocking my head to the side. Why did I have to leave? Can’t he see I’m busy?

“But I’m not done playing…”

“It’s time to get going Toto.”

I started to whimper, I wasn’t ready to leave. I liked being so free in the air with lots of puffy clouds to pounce on and birdies to chase. I haven’t felt this free and light in a long long time.

“Why don’t you tell me a story while we head up?”

“A story? What kind of story? Oh! KimKim loves telling me stories. Well, loved? Anyways!” My tail started wagging as I remembered my favorite times with KimKim. It was hard to think of just one story. We had so many adventures.

We went to the store. We went to the beach. We went to the park. I love the park! So many smells.

We went to Gram Gram’s house. She always gave me so many yummy snacks. And she smelled funny. Like socks.

I love socks.

“This one time we were in the car and I stuck my head out the window and I smelled a cow! A big fat cow!” I started panting, feeling the wind against my face like in the car rides. “And then the cow smelled so bad and I loved it. When we stopped- I don’t know why- I jumped out!” I did a jump in the air to show.

“And then I ran to the smelly cow and the cow was not happy. It started to moo so loud but I couldn’t understand what it was saying. So I barked back that I don’t understand! But it kept mooing.”

“What happened after?”

“Well, KimKim and Mom and Dad found me and they were so loud. Maybe they couldn’t understand the cow either and they were frustrated about the miscommunication. That happens a lot.” I laid down on a nearby fluff cloud and pondered why they were always mixing up what I would try to tell them.

“Like one time, I brought them a delicious baby bird as a gift! I thought it was so cute and squishy. I thought it would be a great friend to play with. But Mom got very red and she screamed and then Dad got very red and also screamed! And KimKim started to cry and I felt sad.”

“What happened to the cow?”

We were still on the way up, the cloud holding me started to float higher and I felt a lot calmer.

“Would you give me some head scritches? I love head scritches.”

“Sure Toto, but what happened to the cow?”

“Oh yeah, it just moo’d and moo’d at me and I just barked and barked, and my humans just shouted and shouted. It was like one big party but with less cake. Then we went back in the car and went somewhere else and I fell asleep.”

“That’s kind of like this might be. You’ll have lots of fun and then you’ll fall asleep.” He started to pet my head and it made me feel even more calm. This being gave good head pats.

“Will there be more cows when I wake up?” I yawned and laid my head on my front paws.

“A whole field full of cows. And chickens, and birds, and anything you want.”

My eyelids started to get heavy and I felt a gentle breeze ruffle my fur. I felt warm and fuzzy like I was back in KimKim's bed with the soft blanket.

“And French fries too.”

I love French fries.