The Secret Life of Yellow Dog

Virginia tossed and turned in her bed. She’d been trying to sleep for hours but every time she finally felt herself drifting off to sleep something brought her back from the edge. Once it was an owl, hooting in the branches of the tree outside her window. Another time itwas the banging and laughter of a young couple on the street below. The third time she’d jerked herself awake, having one of those strange waking dreams where she stepped off the sidewalk and woken up with her whole body jerking and her heart pounding in her chest. She rolled over, groaning slightly and resettled her pillow under her head. She glanced at the clock, sure that hours passed since she’d last looked atit but realized it was only 30 minutes later. It was only 1:00 AM.Her mind kept racing, thinking of all the things that she accomplished that day and the things that she needed todo when she returned to work the following day. Her body was ex-hausted of course; she’d made sure of that. Running from office to office, up and down the stairs from floor to floor was sure to wear a person out. Not to mention the hour jog she took before dinner with her husband, Wilson. He was having no problem sleeping; she could hear him snoring in the next room. Her tossing and turning kept him awake and she eventually decided to sleep in the spare room soat least one of them could get some sleep. Misty, her Shepherd Dog, followed Virginia into the spare room and was already curled up around her feet, snoring away with her back legs twitching now and then.All she wanted was a few hours of sleep. She’d tried everything, she drank a warm glass of milk, she counted sheep, she shifted the radio onto static, and she sat onan uncomfortable chair out in the cold. She listened to Misty’s breathing and soft snuffles in the hopes that they would make her sleepy as they so often did. But none ofit worked. She closed her eyes and listened to her breathing, making one last attempt at sleep. If this didn’t work, she decided, she was going to have to try one of the pills the doctor prescribed her. She didn’t really want to resort to medication.Something was nagging at her, a strange feeling of anticipation and fear. She had a premonition; something was going to happen soon, something big over which she had nocontrol. She’d had that feeling before, once or twice in her life. She smiled. The first time that she felt it was the day before she met Wilson and the second was the week before Wilson asked her to marry him. Something was coming, she knew it, but she couldn’t yet tell what itwas or whether it would be good or bad for her. She sighed again, taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly.Virginia didn’t even realize that she fell asleep. One moment she was watching the back of her eyelids, the next she was in her house on The Hill looking over the land. It felt natural, right, she were exactly where she was supposed to be. She could see over all 15 acres of land, from the stream that bordered the property at the very bottom of the hill, the small wooded areas that sat in some of the dips in the countryside and the floors of the meadow, blowing in the light wind. It was cool, her skin rose with the chill of the wind asit caught her, but it was still sunny. It looked like it was spring. All of the flowers were in bloom, their colors bright and vibrant as their heads bobbed up and down. Butterflies fluttered from blossom to blossom, filling the air with even more color.She looked around and sighed with enjoyment. She loved it here; truly, it was the happiest place in the world for her. Then she heard barking and looked around. There, bouncing in the long grass of the meadow, racing onto the shorter grass of the lawn were her Shepherd Dogs, Misty, King and Chewy. She smiled and laughed, watching them playing together. They jumped and leapt, knocking into each other, chasing each other. Even Misty was joining in and she rarely played with the other, younger dogs. They barked and whined and growled as they raced around the land. Virginia could see everything from her seat on the porch. A little part of her mind whispered to her it wasn’t right, she could never see everything on her land, but she was enjoying herself too much to listen.Then she spotted a flash of yellow from the corner of her eye, streaking across the lawn. There was a howl, of excitement not fear. And her three dogs turned and raced towards the newcomer. The yellow Labrador was met with whines of happiness and wagging tails. Chewy rubbed his face over the newcomer’s, his tail wagging from side to side so hard that he was threatening to topple over at any moment. King and Misty rubbed themselves against the yellow lab, whining with joy, their tails smacking each other as they embraced their friend. Then the Labrador trotted over to Virginia and put his nose into the palm of her hand. It tickled and was slightly damp but it was warm and familiar. “Hello Yellow Dog,”she said fondly. “How are you today?” She leaned forward and scratched behind his ears, holding his face tight and scratching around his neck and chin. Yellow Dog sat and whined, his tail wagging with sheer joy.“Go on,”she said eventually, pulling back, “Go and play with your friends, they’rewaiting for you.”It was true, the other dogs were waiting for Yellow Dog to join them. They were all ina line, their tails still wagging. As soon as Yellow Dog moved away from Virginia and towards them they all bounded to their feet and began to run in circles around him. They raced everywhere, backwards and forwards, tripping over each other, bumping against each other. They ran as a pack, their ears flying and their fur rippling. Their tails were always wagging, even when they were fighting with each other. It was so long since they had all seen each other, their joy filled her with happiness and she laughed as she watched them playing.Then a colder chill washed over Virginia and the sun seemed togo behind a cloud. When she looked up and there were no clouds, the sun was still shining just as brightly. She looked back over the meadows and her lawn and everything seemed darker, the colors a little less bright than they were moments earlier. The butterflies vanished as though they were never there. The flowers faded away too, curling up like it was night time. She spotted a smudge of darkness in the long grass, streaking towards Misty, King and Chewy. Her heart filled with dread, leaping into her throat. This newcomer was not welcome, she knew itin her gut. She was standing now, watching the scene play out. The smudge was a coyote! There was already blood on its muzzle. It faced towards King, slammed into his side and knocked him to the ground. The coyote snarled at King, turned in a circle and glared. Its muzzle was twisted, the sharp savage teeth all showing. The growl made the hairs on the back of Virginia’s neck stand on end. King whined and lay down low. Misty bounded over tohelp, a growl coming from her throat that Virginia never heard before. But the coyote circled her, snarling and foaming at the mouth now, and charged at her. Misty went flying through the air, landing heavily on her side among the curled up flowers. She whined pitifully, looking at Virginia with big brown eyes asking her to help. Virginia couldn’t do anything; she was simply stood there, locked in place.