A small penny spider bounces close above my wet nose as I watch its elegant dance out of half opened eyes. Sleep heavily guards my full vision and blocks the thin delegate web. Watching the spider dancing in the first light of the day, creates a yearning in my soul to leap out of the front door and through the frost covered grass.

The rising light tells me it is nearing morning, but I know it’ll be awhile before the rest of the house wakes. In the meantime, I decide to do a gentle lap of the room, my gaze on the window that separates me from the great outdoors. A bird is whistling softly, and although I recognise it as a frequent guest of my garden, I give it a stern stare and a gentle warning. She looks at me through wide beady eyes, then flaps her feathered wings and soars across the garden in a showy sort of way. She knows very well my desire to be among the wild right now, so her flips around the bushes are merely to taunt me.

There are socks on the floor, heaped in the corner where my dad threw them after dinner last night. They look damp and worn and have no place on the tiled floors. I give them a soft poke and then retreat from their mess to instead explore the empty box beside them.

Suddenly between the sounds of the birds, gentle wind and pokey noises characteristic of the house, there is a beautiful squeak of the bedroom floor and one solitary tender step on the staircase.

It is my mum!

My mum’s sleepy stepping coming down the stairs, the slow pause on the bottom platform that only she does.

Her face appears around the kitchen door and my excitement bubbles as I bound across the kitchen tiles and hurdle against the barrier. Her hands pat the fur on my head and her lips bend down to kiss me good morning.

Oh how I love the dawn, and how I love the moment my mum comes down.

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    Alan Kemister
    Alan Kemister(@alan-kemister)
    2 years ago

    Interesting story. Would have worked better for me if the title didn’t give away that the writer was the family pet.

    Katerina Bizirtsaki
    Katerina Bizirtsaki(@katerina-bizirtsaki)
    Reply to  Ocean O'Hara
    2 years ago

    Although I do agree with Alan, that the title gives away the plot of the story, I don’t think you should change it. It’s definitely catchy and it makes the reader stop scrolling through their phone and read your piece of art.

    Eric Radcliffe
    Eric Radcliffe(@eric-radcliffe)
    2 years ago

    Hello Ocean, what a wonderful story through the eyes of a pet. Don’t we all know how they are first to the front door, they just can not wait once awake to get outside for what ever reason. Well told Ocean. Eric.

    Linda Rock
    Linda Rock(@linda-rock)
    2 years ago

    Oh how lovely was this! I loved the humour in the line ‘so her flips around the bushes are merely to taunt me’. My neighbour has a Scottie called Spud and this so reminded me of him. Beautifully written Ocean.

    Christer Norrlof
    Christer Norrlof(@christer-norrlof)
    2 years ago

    So now I know what’s going on in my dog’s mind before I get up in the morning, being so excited every single day to greet me. I love the details, the adjectives with which you have decorated your story, Ocean. Very nice, humoristic and inventive.

    Lotchie Carmelo
    Lotchie Carmelo(@lotchie-carmelo)
    2 years ago

    Wow! I realized now why Blackjack always kisses my foot when I go out outside to see him and bring him food. Very interesting.

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