“A Man and His Dog” 3-14-2018

WATSON: Hey, you’ve seemed sad to me lately. Are you feeling sad?

ME: I have been sad lately, yes. Sometimes it can be hard to shake.

WATSON: I hear you.

ME: Sometimes, it really does cross your mind that people would just be better off if I weren’t around.

WATSON: Excuse me?

ME: People die every day, and everyone goes on. People go on.

WATSON: First of all, shut your mouth. Second of all, I wouldn’t go on. I don’t care about what other people would do—I would never go on.

In the mornings, I would sit by the glass doors facing the sunrise, and I would look for you all morning. Then, when the light shifted to the west, I would run to the couch and look out the window for you, whining and crying, hoping every person that passed would turn into you. I’d hope, then be disappointed. Hope, then be disappointed. But, I’d keep hoping.

Then, I would sleep a few hours and do it all again, every day, until I died. I would most definitely not go on. Do not put me through that. Do you hear me?…I need you to acknowledge.

ME: Acknowledged

WATSON: I love you, you dumbhead.

ME: I love you too.

(Pause)

WATSON: Why do the channels keep changing? Am I sitting on the remote again?!