My Next Life

In my next life, I think I'd like to be a cheerful dog. I want to get really excited over little things, like going for a walk or chewing up a shoe. I want to lose myself in all the odors at the park, and the smell of my food dish when I get home. I want to instantly fall asleep, even if that happens to be in the middle of the kitchen floor. I want to bark at a passing car and feel the satisfaction that comes from knowing I did the right thing, even though I wouldn't know exactly why.

I want to chase squirrels, too, because I think that would be fun. I wouldn't want to actually catch the squirrel, though. And I'd like to have my own kitten, because kittens are fun to play with. I once knew a dog who had her own kitten, which was just small enough to fit in the dog's mouth. The dog would kind of chew on the kitten sometimes, and the kitten would get all wet and nasty and start making growling sounds to tell the dog she'd had enough, and then the dog would open her mouth and the kitten would swipe the dog's nose just to let her know who's boss, and after a while they'd take a nap together. So it would be good to have a kitten.

Another reason I'd like to be a dog is that dogs can go around without any clothes on, so they never have to do laundry. And if you're a dog, I don't think you care about whether or not another computer is trying to establish a NetBIOS session with your computer whenever you go online. Dogs don't have to worry about firewalls, or laundry detergent.

If I get to be a dog in my next life, I hope the people I live with like to go fishing. I think it would be fun to go out on the lake in a boat and look for fish, and maybe jump out of the boat if I saw one. I hope I'm one of those dogs with big lungs, so I can hold my breath for a long time when I'm under water.