The morning begins

As the first light of dawn breaks through the window, and night retreats again into its own sleepy darkness, I lie in bed reveling in the last few moments of quiet. Slowly, I can feel sleep beginning to overtake me again when …..WAIT! What’s that? There it is again! the pitter patter of paws growing louder and louder by the moment. As if on cue, my mind suddenly resonates with the first strains of the “Jaws” theme. Duh nuh…….duh nuh……duhnah dunah, duhan, dunah…. I peer down to my feet and there it is: a solid black tail flipping cheerily through the air, circling as if closing in on its prey (in eerily similar fashion to the dorsal fin of a Great White Shark as it prepares to devour its next meal). As I’m beginning to wrap my mind around the dangers that lay ahead, the stuffed bear (a family memento) which once stood proudly displayed at the end of the bed is gone!! Grabbed by the ear, it is ripped from its resting place and goes under. With lighting speed, the Land Shark has struck!! In moments, the tail resumes its circling and one by one other items begin to disappear: the shoes were next, trash can lids gave way to the relentless attack, yielding their treasure of discarded tissues. At this point, I realized it’s down to me! I must be brave; I’ll face that land shark head on! From…..uh right here under the blanket! Within moments, the land shark is in full view, sparkling brown eyes staring as if deciding which appendage should go first. The rows of razor sharp teeth head directly for my hand. As I am calling for help, Murf comes to the rescue. Like a stealthy dolphin, he circles around to size up the situation and without notice the land shark jumps into the waters again. This time in pursuit of Murf! “I think we’re going to need a bigger boat!”