Nollie and Luna Have a Conversation

Nollie was racing across an infinite green lawn of grass, the rat was just with in reach, her paws were peddling faster and faster suddenly she was flying through the air. With a yipe she woke herself up. She loved the dreams where she caught the rat but she almost never had that dream, usually the rat was so fast, just too fast. Now she was in her own crate. She adjust and shifted. Then she curled up in a doughnut. It was dark and warm. She sighed and stretched her head out.

Was it time? Where were the peoples? What were they doing? Did they sleep in crates? Who let them out? Nollie wondered.

Luna the doodle also sighed but at Nollie and turned over in her crate. It was bigger because she was bigger. Her coat was a dense layer of cream colored curls-warm in all weather- she wasn’t cold. Nollie was always cold. Her legs and belly were nearly naked, the rat terrier/ basenji lineage gave her a shiny but thin coat, large upright triangle ears and a very simple mind.

“Was it time? What was taking so long?” Nollie hissed at Luna in the half light.

Luna didn’t bother to answer. She knew full well that the peoples were awake and that they were talking softly, but until there were smells of urine and two loud flooshing sounds and more wet splashing sounds they wouldn’t come down. Even then, that didn’t mean anything would happen. Until the crate unlatched-relax, that was her motto.

Nollie uncurled, Was that a noise? She stood and turned, her crate only allowing a tight bend. She sat hunched over, her long black legs tucked under. Her neat white bib gleaming, her head cocked.

“Luna, are they coming?”

Luna just growled at her. Nollie annoyed her endlessly with questions that just a few seconds wait would answer.

And then the peoples came down the stairs. Two of them, both in pajamas, one with a sweater on over her pajamas. The male disappeared into the kitchen. The female went to check on the wood burning stove. Nollie jiggled her crate door,

“Me, Me, Me, MEEeeee.” she whined

“Get a grip” Luna growled.

“Shh little one, I’m coming,” The female crooned, “Luna stop growling” she turned and spoke crisply. Luna rolled her eyes and stood ready for a good stretch. The crate doors were popped open, first Nollie’s then Luna’s. Nollie rocketed out, bouncing off the corner of the coffee table to circle and stretch. Luna stretched half in and half out of her crate just to show how unhurried she was to be getting out. Both dogs leaned forward, backward, downward dog.

“Oh mmm that feels so good.” intoned Nollie as she did every single time she stretched.

Meanwhile Luna had walked to the door and began to bounce,

“Out, out, Out, please!” At the exact same time Nollie was slinking away from the door,

“Oh not outside it’s so cold, so very, very cold…”

“But you need to go out Nollie.” said the people as they swept Nollie out the door with their foot. Down the three steps Nollie ran and into the snow she went.

“Oh, OH OHHWAHH!” yelped Nollie as she scuttled, hopped, and bounced trying to work herself through the necessary number of circlings required to pee.

“Sucks to be bald!” Luna laughed as she wandered aimlessly, heedless of the snow.

“W-w-w-ait t-t-til y-y-you g-g-get sh-shaved n-n-n-ext.” Nollie chattered

The door opened and Nollie shot into the house almost upsetting the people.

“Whoah there!” The people came out the door carrying a wood tote and proceeded to fill it with logs from the covered wood pile for the woodburning stove while Luna continued to do her business.

Inside, Nollie found herself alone in the living room, she scooted her butt across the rug uncaught,

“Success!” she sighed as she trotted into the kitchen to drink from the dog dish.

The people in the kitchen bent down to give Nollie a scritch between the ears, but Nollie ducked so she could look up at her people’s face. She sat and waited for a chest and neck scritch instead.

This would be better she thought pleadingly. But he had gone back to prepping breakfast and wasn’t looking at her, so she yelled,

“Hey People!” the yip came out high and shrill. The man jumped and laughed at himself,

“Bossy little kid aren’t we? Well, come here.” He leaned down and began to scrub between her ears, her back and finally the area around her neck and chest that were always so itchy but hard to scratch.

The side door opened, letting in Luna and the people with the wood tote. Hearing the door open, Nollie raced back into the living room to help. Nollie circled closely.

“Back up Nollie!” said the people

Nollie slipped around to their other side, directly where the people was trying to set the wood tote down.

“NAH-LEE!”

Nollie jumped back completely surprised that her attempts to help are not being well received, confused she sat. Luna laughed again,

“Back away from them, Ding Dong.”

Nollie looked shocked.

“What do you mean?”

“Do what I do, when they are bringing in stuff, stay back, sit or lay down. They like it.”

“How can you tell?” Nollie asked perplexed

“They aren’t yelling at me.” Luna said with a supercilious grin.

“But they aren’t saying your name!” Nollie countered with a gotcha look on her face.

“Tone, Ding Dong, tone! It’s all about the tone.” Luna said with a big sigh.

“Oh that’s right if they say it, but they’re angry…” Nollie trailed off.

“That’s bad, remember?” Luna prompted.

“Sure.”

“No, you don’t.”

“But I will from now on.” Nollie said triumphantly. Luna gave it til about dinner (if that) before she forgot again. The whole conversation had taken just a moment and had completely gone unnoticed by the couple. They thought it was nice when their doggoes lay on the rug together, little did they know.