This is Peanut Butter Brickle. Do you dream?
What do you dream of when you are asleep?
As a dog, Digby and I like to dream of running in fields, the beach, our persons and lots and lots of food. We play with our friends here now and from the past in our dreams. Rarely do we have a bad one.
But it seems like persons do have a lot of bad dreams. Especially Girl Person. In fact, don’t tell her I told you this. But she’s been known to scream very loudly in her sleep since she was a young one. You didn’t hear it from me.
But the other night, she really outdid herself with her sleep theatrics.
Since Digby and I have to go to the bathroom a lot during the night, Girl Person makes sure she is close by. So Digby was close by her. But thank goodness not too close.
Because all of a sudden, in the darkness of the night, Girl Person was running in her sleep.
Then Girl Person tried to cover her head with a blanket and hide.
Then Girl Person screamed.
Then Girl Person threw herself on the floor. I said it. She did that.
She woke up and looked around. But the stare on Digby’s face was scarier than her dream. If looks could harm you, we would have had to call an ambulance for Girl Person. Because when you interrupt Digby’s sleep, nothing good will come of that.
Boy Person is so used to her nonsense that he only turned over and went back to sleep. But I was curious. What in the world could have scared her so bad? She tried to explain.
She said in her dream, she was shopping for groceries in a crowded store. She doesn’t like shopping. It made her nervous. And she said she tried to find somewhere to catch her breath. Somewhere to hide in the grocery store.
She opened up a door and saw a nice bathtub in the grocery store. Well. I’ve never heard of that. She said she misses baths in an RV.
So she filled up the bath, all ready to relax. But she looked up and she saw the hairiest, longest leg she has ever seen. Longer than my legs. She knew it was a spider and she screamed.
But then, her scream scared the spider, which actually was not a spider on the ceiling, but a sheep! A sheep on the ceiling in a bathroom in a grocery store. And well, when it falls on you, you scream again like Girl Person. And. You fall out of bed. Like Girl Person.
What did this all mean? She did not know. We did not know. Boy Person didn’t want to know.
Aren’t individuals we meet a mystery like this dream sometimes too? Persons or dogs may be scared of things and we don’t know why. But just because we don’t know why doesn’t mean we have a right to judge them.
Even people who are afraid of dogs deserve respect. Because although we may not understand, we can sympathize and give others space.
There are many sicknesses individuals have. Some we may never know they deal with. Not even our closest friends. Be loving. Respectful. And kind. But don’t sleep by Girl Person.
–Peanut Butter Brickle
