I am Stella, Queen of the Olde English Bulldogges. I am real.
Me: Yep. You sure are. REAL real.
Stella: I already said that, Lady Human. Now you are repeating me and yourself. As I was saying, I am real. A real live dog. But Lady Human has all sorts of fake animals sitting around. There are dogs and bears and a tiger and an elephant and even a frog…ewww.
Me: Lots of variety.
Stella: But you have real animals, like me and the pack and Pearl the Parakeet and Moon Cat and the chickens. What do you need with stuffed animals? A stuffed animal is not nearly as alive as a real one.
Me: I know, but you can’t use a real animal as a pillow. At least not all the time.
Stella: I use you as a pillow all the time.
Me: True.
Stella: You are nice and squishy.
Me: Thank you. I think. The thing about stuffed animals for pillows is that they are cushy, and they don’t move around. And some of them are gifts from a long time ago and reminders.
Stella: Aren’t we reminders?
Me: Sure. Every day. But these things are reminders of what happened way before I ever met any of y’all. They remind me of who gave them to me and where they came from. Like that bear, for instance. It came from a little shop in Alexandria, Virginia many years ago. And Tall Man gave me that elephant one day when I was feeling a little down. How could I keep real elephants and bears in the house? And then there’s still the whole soft pillow issue.
Stella: You can use me for a pillow, Lady Human.
Me: Really?
Stella: Sure. For about as long as it takes you to fall asleep.
Copyright 2019 H.J. Hill All Rights Reserved.
