A Few Rules Between Me and Her
There were a few rules between me and her. First, no licking when she woke me in the morning. Second, no growling at the actresses on TV. Third, no throwing tantrums at other women during walks. And there were plenty more where those came from. Of course, not a single one had ever been properly followed. Like this morning, for instance.
“Slurp, slurp…”
Five minutes before the alarm was due to sound, a wet, rasping texture slammed into my cheek without fail, delivering its usual wake-up call.
“Master! The sun’s up! Time to wake up!”
I waved a hand through the air without bothering to open my eyes.
“Som, rule number one…”
“But this is the fastest way!”
I gave up and cracked my eyes open. A face brighter than the morning sunlight itself was staring down at me—lustrous silver hair, porcelain skin, and round, dark eyes that looked exactly like a puppy’s. She had a small, delicate frame, but I knew perfectly well that those pretty lips had been licking my face only seconds earlier.
“Walk! Let’s go for a walk!”
She didn’t wait for an answer before she started bouncing all over the bed like a rubber ball.
Her name was Som. She had once been a perfectly ordinary Maltese I’d been raising. Then one morning the little white bundle of fur that slept beside me had simply… become this.
How had it come to this? The chaos in my daily life was only part of the problem. My whole world had turned into the territory of a tiny predator who regarded every woman on the planet as a potential rival.
She growled at actresses in dramas, at women we passed on the street—anyone who so much as met her eyes. I had already lost count of how many times I’d been forced to bow and apologize on her behalf.
Only a few months ago my world had felt like a submarine gliding silently into the abyss. Suffocating stillness and the loneliness that slowly gnawed away at me from within. That was all there was.
“Master, hurry!”
Som grabbed my arm and tugged, impatient. I let the small hand pull me along as I glanced out the window. An ordinary view. But no longer a lonely one.
Yeah, well. It was often hectic, bewildering, and my back ached from constantly cleaning up the accidents she caused. Still… at least silence no longer filled my world.
That one thing alone felt like it might be enough.