Jadie does not like it when I write. She noses my arm, as if to push the words back into motion. Charlie shifts his weight, leans against my chest, his eyes steady: Don’t drift too far.
But Jadie, Charlie, I say— The pause matters. It’s where the idea breathes, where the thought decides whether to arrive or vanish. The silence, I tell them, is half the story.
Charlie groans. Jadie flops down with a thud. The park’s dogs are chasing shadows, they say. The open car is waiting. The wind is already changing. Ipads? they say. We chewed one once. Let’s go.
You may have noticed the new frame. Broad planks, low to the floor, stretching well beyond the mattress it holds.
Right now, our old queen perches there, a little island in the middle of a wooden sea. It looks less like a bed and more like a stage waiting for its star.
Tomorrow, if the truck shows, the king arrives. A mattress said to be so wide a man can stretch without fear of paws or tails pushing him to the brink. A mattress meant for space, for comfort, for the kind of sleep poets call “rest.”
But I know you two. You begin the night curled small, courteous as monks. Then dreams arrive, and with them, conquest.
Charlie lengthens across the diagonal like a fencer with a blade. Jadie, sunflower that she is, unfurls petal by petal until she holds half the bed in her bloom.
By morning, I am once again pressed to the rim, clinging like a cliff diver.
And yet, even as I daydream of space, I know better. Kings do not rule here. Packs do. What matters isn’t the width of the mattress but the weight of the bodies that choose to rest beside me.
So yes, pups, tomorrow we may find out what sleep in a king feels like. But tonight, on this undersized queen in an oversized frame, I already know what home feels like.
Jadie and Charlie Announce Co-Candidacy for California’s 29th Congressional District
Lake Balboa, CA — 2025 — The Committee to Elect Jadie and Charlie announced today that the two canines will run jointly for election to the United States House of Representatives, representing California’s 29th Congressional District.
Jadie, the Chocolate Labrador, and Charlie, the Mystery Mix, enter the race with a combined record of discipline, loyalty, and direct service to their community. Together, they pledge to provide focused, consistent representation for ALL residents of the San Fernando Valley.
The campaign platform emphasizes:
Universal access to daily walks for all constituents.
Strengthened enforcement against fireworks within the District.
Federal regulation of vacuum cleaners to promote household security.
Transparent treat conduct in all matters, free from hidden agendas.
Supporters note the candidates’ history of reliability and persistence, qualities too often absent in modern politics.
“The 29th District deserves representatives who will sit, stay and who’shagooddoggie?” said a campaign spokesperson. “You are! Yes you are!”
The Committee has confirmed that the first campaign rally will be held daily at the Sepulveda Basin Dog Park throughout the election season. Constituents are encouraged to attend. And bring a poop bag.
