All week I’ve been watching my dogs sleep.
Both dogs are asleep on my bed right now. Polo is curled into a circle, like a snail shell. Clover is stretched out, taking up as much room as she possibly can.
This is how they always sleep—Polo, making herself small; Clover, making herself large. If they have to share a space, like the dog bed, then Clover will reluctantly curl up. But subtlety is not her way.
Clover stretches. Looks over her shoulder. Flips her tail in a circle. Adjusts her legs. Somehow she lengthens her nose. She actually looks longer than she did a minute ago. Polo sqwunches herself even tighter. She buries her nose beneath her tail, opens her eyes for a moment as if to ask, “Is it OK if I go to sleep now? You’re not going to get up again for more tea, are you?” With her black and white markings, she looks like a chocolate-vanilla doggie swirl.