The Lump

I have a lump in my bed every night, and she has a name and brown fur and sweet paws and gentle brown eyes. The lump starts off on top of the covers, and in the pre-dawn gray that creeps through my window, she wakes, moves up the bed and noses her way under the covers, worming down to settle next to my legs. Bean is the live-action stuffed animal I never had as a kid, and I remember my friend Rob telling me when I was trying to decide if I even wanted a dog that, though having one doesn't make life easier, they sure do make life better. I couldn't agree more.