Talking Dog

Talking Dog first appeared on Trev's Telautograph on December 30th 2010

“Come on, get up you lazy git!”
I can hear the voice but I must be dreaming it, I really must stop drinking before I go to bed!
“Look, come on, we have important business today”.
I open my eyes, roll over as if to get out of bed, it’s then that I notice my Jack Russell dog sitting on my briefcase. He has an odd look to him but then, like me, he is not a morning lover.
“Will you hurry up, you need to have a shower before we go”.
Now I am looking him square in the muzzle! He sits on the briefcase looking at me as if what he was saying; doing, was the most normal thing for a five year old Jack Russell to do, which is tell his  master to get out of bed and  get in the shower.
“Jeez, it’s early!” I mutter under my breath as I look at the alarm clock “I’m not getting up just yet”.
“You won’t be going to work today mate! We have important business to attend to. Get in that shower, NOW!”
“Are you really talking to me?”
I’m now beginning to understand this dream, talk to my dog and I’ll wake up with the alarm going and things will be just fine.
“Yes, I am really talking to you and no this is not a dream. Get in that shower”
I see the dogs jaws move as the words come forth. What the hell?
I get up anyway, I might as well follow the dream and see where it takes me. I go to the bathroom and get showered.

As I get dressed, my Jack Russell comes trotting into the bedroom, he has his brush in his mouth. I know in real life there is no way he can get to his brush so now I know I can safely follow this through and wake up in what is my rather humdrum reality in due course.
“Brush me, I need to look my best as well you know”.
“This is a first, you hate getting brushed”.
I am really up for this dream now and wondering where it is going to take me.
I brush the dog, finish getting dressed and stand starring into the wall mirror admiring this odd looking pair smiling back at me. Yes the dog seems to be smiling.
“As I’m not going to work today, where are we going?” I ask
“You are taking me for a walk down the park”
“Which park?” There are three parks within easy walking distance of my flat, all of which I walk my dog in regularly
“The one with the stream”

We walk the mile and a bit to the park. It is a lot earlier than I would normally take him for a walk. In fact we see no one apart from a milkman doing his rounds.
“Now what”? I ask
“You’ll see”
I start to walk by the stream as I often do when we come to this park when I hear a dog barking. I look up to see my dog running towards another Jack Russell, in the distance I can see another walker who I assume is the other dogs owner.
I watch the two dogs play, my dog never plays but he is behaving like a puppy with this strange, new dog.
“Hello” I hear a soft female voice behind me. It is the other dog walker.
“Good morning” I reply
“My dog woke me and spoke to me this morning” The lady dog walker looked as confused as I had felt an hour ago.
“So did mine but I know this is a dream and I’ll soon wake up” I say, trying to sound convincing, the dream like state is not feeling quite so comfortable now, In fact I begin to wish that I am not dreaming at all.
“What did your dog say to you?”
“He said we had important business to attend to” I reply
“So did mine”
I look into the ladies eyes as she looked into mine.
The dogs come running towards us, still playing and tumbling as they arrive at our feet. My dog looks up at me and says
“I told you we both had important business this morning”

©Trevor Litchfield