"Woof!"
Jane groaned and rolled over, hiding her face from Mitzi, her twenty pound Lhasa Apso. She pulled a pillow over her head, and smelled her perfume on the satin case.
"Woof!"
"Aw, Mitzi, go back to sleep!" Dave glanced at the alarm clock, realized it was only ten minutes until rising time, and threw back the covers.
"That dog is going to start sleeping in the garage, Jane, I'm telling you." He stomped down the hallway.
"You're right, there's no hitting the snooze button in this house."
She grabbed her robe and slid it over her shoulders.
"Come on, Mitzi, let's get you outside." She led her to the front door, opened it, and watched the shaggy little dog make her way to her favorite tree. As she waited, the smell of freshly brewed coffee drifted from the kitchen. Jane rubbed her eyes, wondering what she should say to her husband about their furry alarm clock -- the one who insisted on waking them at the same time every morning.
Even weekends.
"You know Mitzi loves you," she said to Dave's back, as he poured his coffee. He turned and handed her a cup. "Yeah, that helps."
"And we can't make her sleep somewhere else, it would break her heart. Remember that morning the electricity was off and she kept us from being late to work?" Dave rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I love the little mutt, but I wouldn't mind sleeping in a few times while we're away," he grinned. "Mitzi can bark up a storm every morning at the kennel."
Jane sipped her coffee, the flavor rich to the taste. She sighed in appreciation.
The following week Dave and Jane dropped Mitzi at the local dog and cat hotel, and drove four hours to a seaside resort. They checked into a deluxe hotel suite with all the trimmings, spent the day sight-seeing and fell into the king-sized bed just after midnight.
"Rinnngggg!"
Dave lifted the phone and said, "Yeah?" An automated voice greeted him. "Good morning, this is your wake up call..."
He slammed the phone onto the base and turned to his wife. "Did we request a wake up call?"
"No," Jane yawned, "but look at the time."
It was the exact time Mitzi always woke them.
"Unbelievable." Dave spoke with the front desk, who apologized for the programming error in the wake up system, and the couple continued their vacation.
"Rinnngggg!"
They received a wake-up call, at the same time, every morning for the duration of their stay.
"Rinnnggg!"
"This is just eerie," Jane said, glancing at the clock again. "I can almost feel a paw on my shoulder. Maybe Mitzi is sending us psychic messages."
Dave answered the phone one last time and said, "Good dog."
-- Robin Bayne <RLBayne @ nbayne.com>
