Not Liking the New Normal By Pocket

I am not sure what’s been going on around here lately but I know it’s not good.  One morning while we were all cuddled in bed Daddy’s phone made that funny noise, not the one that rings but that other weirder one where he has to read, not talk.  It took him a few seconds for his eyes to adjust and then he said  “Oh Christ he fell again.”  I wasn’t sure who he was.  The last “he” who fell down and bothered Daddy was Will Middlebrooks but I don’t think it was him.

Daddy was gone for a long time that day, and when he came home he was quiet.  Later that night his phone rang.  I watched him and the aura that surrounded him and I saw everything ease.  I put my head down and no longer worried.

The next day, Daddy must have done something before grocery shopping because he was between aggravated and nervous with a touch of weariness when he got home.  When Daddy came home from work on Thursday besides the stank of strange dog on his clothes, the aura and demeanor had become quieter, more nervous, less aggravated and still quite weary.  

Things grew worse each day after that until Tuesday morning his phone made the real ringing sound, and I could hear a very serious voice on the other side.  Daddy’s voice was very even, and they spoke briefly.  Then, just as he had a week before, Daddy hurried me, than River outside, and he was gone.

It had been a week since we got the call.  This time Daddy was gone about an hour.  He was soft spoken when he returned home and he had many phone calls to make.  Mommy was quiet too  River and I curled up on the back of the sofa, sensing it was the right time to stay quiet.

Later that day River and I were crated while “arrangements” were made.  River and I discussed what we should do in between River trying to break her way out of her crate.  I thought snuggly, she thought goofy, and, because that is both what we do best, we decided to do each.

The next couple of days we acted between goofy and cuddly.  On Friday Daddy and Mommy got all dressed up and Daddy wore a ribbon around his neck which he hardly ever does anymore.  They were gone for about four hours, and then, the next day, early in the morning, they left, wearing the same clothes.

They got home later in the day, quiet and tired and we gave them some good snuggle time so they could sleep.  River told me I had to adjust to the new normal.  That’s the third time in a year:  First Foley, then when River came in to live with us, and finally whatever this was.

I don’t like the new normal, I like normal normal, but Mommy told me the new normal would become the normal normal soon enough.

I hope so, I really want things to return to normal.