Cover Girl

I woke up this morning to discover I was lying on my side on about 8 inches of bed. Behind me was a short drop to an uninviting floor and in front of me were three very close Ridgebacks. Boy was up by my head curled into a tight Ridgeball, Leeloo was jammed into the space between me and Cora who was on Leeloo's other side. Everyone was very ... close together. I know this was a result of the blanket falling off of them in the night and in an effort to stay as warm as possible they all migrate toward me and each other. If the blanket is over them they are inclined to allow me a little more space.

Normally I'd wake up in the night to put their blanket back on but for whatever reason last night I didn't and they spent a most of the tragic night with no binkie. The only dog who is binkie obsessed is Leeloo to the point where she demands it be placed back over her when it falls off. If we are in the living room and it falls off it is simply a matter of me noticing and replacing it, if I don't notice there will likely be some pointed whining, increasing in urgency and volume until I take action.

At night she used to be quite subtle about the binkie service where she would start to quietly wake me up - it was a sort of half sigh, half wistful whine like 'I wish my binkie was on me' or 'Gosh, I miss my binkie'. The whining would often be integrated into my dream - something like a door creaking or the wind blowing but it sounded like a whine from a dog. Eventually the whining would become so insistent that it would wake me up and I would realize I was not dreaming of the whining, it was actually happening.

Lately though Leeloo has taken a more direct approach to late night binkie emergencies. I'd be fast asleep, usually lying facing the edge of the bed, and would be awakened by Leeloo standing with her nose about 6 inches away from my face and emitting the binkie whine. I would wake up, say "Whuh wid Doodle?" and she would dance on the spot for a moment and whine again. When I sit up, she would race around to the other side of the bed, hop on, lay down in her usual spot (between Boy at the head and Cora and Esme at the foot) in a Ridgeball and make her self ready for the binkie. I would throw the binkie over her, Boy and Cora (Esme gets too hot) and she would, without fail, emit the Happy Leeloo Groan of Satisfaction and fall asleep within seconds.

Sometimes the binkie demands can happen multiple times in a night which means lack of sleep for me. Lately I find that Leeloo has trained me to wake up and check on the binkie situation before it reaches critical mass. I don't mind catering to this strange demand of hers because for some reason that Happy Leeloo Groan of Satisfaction fills my heart every time I hear it and even if it's 3:32am all is forgiven.