All the Birds of This Day

Right now my family is out of town, so I am taking care of my dog. I adore her. I talk to her and ask her philosophical questions, as if she will look up from licking her stuffed animal and answer me. She snores, I haven't been getting much sleep. The other night I tried to sneak away into another bed in the middle of the night (because yes, she is sleeping the same bed as me), and a few minutes later I heard the little trot trot trot of paws on the floor and then I heard her whimpering for me to let her up onto the new bed. I didn't have the heart to tell her no or shut the door with her on the other side, so up she came, sleeping peacefully all night, while I tossed and turned and searched in vain for the earplug I'd dropped somewhere in the covers