At 3:45 AM

No, it wasn't a dream. Part of the reason I know is it woke me enough to need to go hit the bathroom.

Despite my allergies, there are times I let Koda in my room for the night.  This usually means he lays on the corner at the foot of the bed nearest the door. Guarding. This time, however, he positioned himself halfway up the bed, leaning against me. I hadn't noticed until I needed to roll over and he was in my way.

I pushed from under the sheet. Nothing.

"Koda, shoo." That usually works, at least to send him to the foot of the bed, occasionally out the door. Nothing.

Oh well, I had to roll over and managed it despite him. This put my arm in the perfect spot to rest my hand on his chest, and I did, idly petting him. Nothing.

When I say nothing I mean there was so much nothing that I detected no breathing. I moved my hand to the front of his chest. Nothing. I pushed. Nothing. Tried for a pulse. Nothing. Shook him again, petted him, said his name, changed his position.

Nothing.

He was still warm, so I figured whatever had happened had been very recent. I wondered if something about it had been what woke me. He's only 10 1/2, still frisky, so this was unexpected. I was glad at least that he'd gone while snuggled with me rather than banished to solitude in the den, the nearest source of carpeting in the house these days.

I continued to stroke him, until finally deciding I needed to hit the bathroom. I'd seen the clock before rolling over, knew it'd still be over two hours before I'd be getting up, and wanted to be able to get back to sleep. I figured I'd deal with him then. Not now.

So I rolled back over, pulled back the covers to get out of the bed, avoiding covering him with them, sat up, and started out of the bed. By the time I hit the first corner of the bed, up he bounced and down to the floor, leading me out of the room.

Huh!

He got an extra good ear rub while I sat in the bathroom. And yes, I've been double checking. I can feel him breathe and easily find his pulse when he'd laying next to or even on me. I know I'm not crazy.

At least not about this.