A Dog's Life

i woke up to that familiar sound of a dog about to barf. If you have a dog - you know the sound well. It takes a few minutes for them to roil up whatever is trapped in there and for some reason it’s always at 2am and it’s always on the bedding I just washed. A few nights ago was no different. I quickly thought - if i sprint for the kitchen - which is close in a one room guest house - will i make it back? I chose to scoop my hands under her mouth - also something I’ve done one thousand times. Also something I would never do for another human - maybe my own child. Which by the way - Daisy is - i birthed her. But this time what came out of her mouth looked like one of those woven stick dolls from the Blair Witch project. It was at least 5 inches long and I immediately thought - is there a dead animal wrapped inside of this? Had Daisy suddenly become some sort of ancient burial sensai able to wrap her prey perfectly inside her own belly?