After lunch, my belly content and my body slowing down from its morning high of productiveness, I climb the stairs. My four-legged companion, used to this daily ritual, has beaten me to my bedroom. Cleo is a nap’s greatest champion. I find her curled on her side, against the pillows at the head of the bed. She does that weird dog thing where she snores with one eye open, warily watching my every move, waiting to see if I will make her budge. Sometimes I do. Today, I ignore the dog smell and the residual black fur as I slide into cool sheets. I find myself instantly relaxing, my jaw unclenching, shoulders going slack.
Thoughts amble through my mind, eventually growing hazy and vague. I am aware of the curtain gently stirring in the summer breeze, and the distant sounds of kids playing. My lightweight cotton blanket is the perfect amount of pressure on my legs. My pillow, lumpy from years of bunching, is cradling my head. Cleo has now transitioned into slow rhythmic breathing that is sustaining and soothing. How could I not drift off to sleep with her accompaniment?
One final twitch before my body succumbs to sleep, leaving that disorienting phase between awake and unaware. Ah, bliss. And then……..the damn phone rings, piercing the peace. I jerk upright, my heart pounding. I am sure that it will explode out of my chest only to flop about the floor twitching and quivering. I inadvertently send Cleo crashing to the ground with a pitiful yelp. Gasping, I reach for the phone, answering it with a shaky breath.
“Hi Ma’am. This is AT & T calling to let you know about some wonderful new long distance plans you might be interested in.” I sigh and politely decline. I settle back down into my smooth sheets. Cleo has apparently forgiven me and jumps up, but opts for the foot of the bed, giving me a pointed look. Even as my heart rate slows down from its superhuman level, I know it is hopeless. My nap mode had been destroyed, not to be found again……until tomorrow.
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