encoded notions

5:30 AM.

“R.B., wake up.”

I was in the middle of a good dream, and there goes my mom ruining it. And why’s she waking me up in the whee hours of the morning?

“The neighbor lady called, her garage is burning to the ground. She can’t find her dog and she asked me to help her look.”

My first instinct is to assume that my mom had a seriously real dream, but then I hear sirens outside. Throwing on some clothes, I descend the stairs and attempt to sneak a peek at the roaring blaze.

“When they opened the front gate, their dog started running away because he was scared. She’s afraid that he’s lost and won’t find his way home.”

Well, that dog of theirs certainly seemed stupid, and also very plump. I find myself not entirely awake and now walking outside with the hint of a glow on the distant horizon indicating that dawn is fast approaching. There are voices shouting the dog’s name. The street is closed, and there are firetrucks going past my house. I hope all the commotion has spooked the skunks into hiding.

If that dog decided to hide on our property somewhere, I don’t think we could find him for a while. There are too many cars and trees to hide under.

I examine the remains, still smoking as they apply water. The tree above the garage had also been on fire. A little more wind and a little more sleep for the neighbors and their house would’ve caught fire too. Ironically enough, they just put their house on the market yesterday since they’re moving to Florida. I suppose they’ll have to remove the line “and two car garage” from the listing.

Whoa. There was a van parked inside the garage when it went up in flames, and now it looks like something from the set of CSI: black metal ribs with chunks of char.

We look for the dog a bit more, and then my sister and I return to bed at 6:00 AM.

They found the dog the next day. He was hiding in the field behind my house.