Page 24 of My Greatest Joy

“You really should be thanking me right now.” He smirks, zipping up his coat.

“Oh, please. He’s a bigger chicken than I am. If someone broke in, I’d have to protecthim.” I roll my eyes.

Dasher follows him, and Levi stops to pet his head. “Don’t listen to her and be a good boy.”

“You literally just told him not to listen to me!” I shout, but he continues walking out the door.

I glance down at Dasher, who’s looking up at me. “What? You’re screwed. I’m not entertaining you.”

Turning around, I go to the kitchen and find a plate of eggs and hashbrowns that are still warm. While I eat, Dasher sits at my feet, begging for some. Instead, I eat every bite, rinse the plate, then nearly trip over Dasher on the way to the living room.

I sit on the couch, watching the flames lick the inside of the fireplace, and wish I had a mug of coffee.

Dasher stares me down, then trots to his pile of toys as I grab my laptop. The first thing I do is try to connect to the Wi-Fi, and I nearly cry when it works.

Dasher has a squeaky ball in his mouth and places his head on the edge of the couch. While I catch up on emails, I try to ignore him, but he nudges his cold nose against my hand.

“Go lie down.” I position my body away from him, so he moves into my line of sight. It’s impossible to avoid those big brown puppy dog eyes. Eventually, I pull the ball from his mouth and throw it as hard as I can across the room.

Biggest mistake of my life.

He immediately returns it, his tail wagging in excitement. I toss it again, and this time, it bounces off the wall, bolting in the opposite direction. The pads of his feet tap along the hardwood floor as he retrieves the ball and brings it to me.

I type an email to my boss with my free hand and eventually finish, but it takes me twice as long. Then I open my document and read the last paragraph I wrote.

Dasher whines, and I hold him off for five minutes, but then my heart can’t handle his whimpering any longer. So his relentless game of fetch begins again.

After every few words I write, I throw that damn ball as far as I can. He doesn’t take the hint that I’mover it.

“Please.I need to work,” I tell him as if he can understand. We play until he runs to the door. For a moment, I think I’ll get a break, that is, until he paws at it.

Standing, I walk over. “Let’s come to an agreement first. You do your business, then come right back. Got it?”

I wait, almost expecting an answer, but he stares at me in anticipation.

“Okay, fine,” I say, twisting the knob and opening the door. The first thing Dasher does is jump into a pile of snow.

“Oh God,” I groan, stepping onto the deck to watch him run around. “Hurry up so we can go inside!”

The cold air wafts into the house, and I shiver, wishing I had grabbed my coat. A sweater and a thermal aren’t enough.

“Dasher!”

He bunny hops around, the bright green ball still in his mouth as he has the time of his life. I shut the door, trying to warm up, but keep an eye on him through the window. I tap on the glass, and he pops his head up with his ears raised. “Come on, go potty!”

He goes back to tossing the ball in the air and playing by himself. I shake my head, annoyed that I’m left to watch this spoiled animal who has no consideration for my productivity.

“Fine,” I mutter and return to my laptop in the living room. If he’s smart enough to let me know when he wants out, he should be smart enough to let me know when he wants in.

Sighing, I look at the steadily blinking cursor on my screen. I read over the few sentences I wrote while distracted, not fully impressed, and decide to delete them.

Until I see more, I won’t be able to continue writing, so I stop forcing it. Instead, I text my sister with an update.

Fallon

We lost power during the storm and it just came on. Sorry for not calling you back, but I’m safe.

Taryn

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