Band of Brothers

It was raining. I'd had to go to work in the middle of the day, so the day was shot. There was no point in starting anything, like cleaning, I reasoned, not enough time to really get into it. Instead, I decided to do a little spinning. I settled myself in Gregg's chair and positioned the wheel in front of me. Ray settled himself on the couch opposite me and positioned his head on one of the pillows. I'd already fed him and it was starting to get dark because of the rainclouds so he was ready to go to bed anyway.

It was quiet as I spun. I heard a dog bark in the distance. Ray raised his head and gave a low growl. The dog continued to bark. Another dog joined in. Ray turned his head so that he could hear better then growled again. He got up off the couch and trotted to the front door to 'look' out. The hair was up on his back, the dogs were still barking in the distance. Obviously a warning was going out.

I got up to join Ray at the front door. I looked out to see if I could see anything. Nothing. Ray was standing still, 'looking', and growling. He turned and headed to his dog door. I followed. When he got to his door, he paused, looked over his shoulder, and waited for me. I reached for the doorknob and said, "Don't worry Ray, I got your back"

Ray went through his door, trotted out about 10 feet, paused and looked back again. "I'm right here," I said. Ray growled one last time, gave one long yell, then turned and came back in. He paused for me to wipe his feet. Ray headed back to the couch and curled into his usual tiny little ball, his job done.

I found myself thinking how terrifying it must be for Ray to hear the warning coming down the pike and not be able to see what kind of danger is out there. But, to his credit, he's ready to protect hearth and home to the best of his ability. And it's good to know that Ray was doing his part along with his brethren - - his dogs-in-arms as it were - - in alerting the neighborhood to the dangers that lurk within the suburbs. Even if no one is quite sure what those dangers are.