The wind in her ears
March 20th 2010 02:50
One of the more entertaining things to do in our house is to watch Daisy sleep. Scratchy has his moments of animation too but in observing him dream one gets the firm impression that all Scratchy's sleeping reflections, like all his waking thoughts, are about food. Scratchy dreams about dinner.
Daisy is a freer spirit. Her dreams are about open fields and the power to move as only a greyhound can move. While Scratchy connects to an ancient animal instinct to eat, Daisy connects to an ancient greyhound instinct to chase.
It is not about catching, it is about running.
Daisy's dream chases start with a twitch of the nose and a jerk of the toes. Quickly she moves into stride and all four legs pump. Now the whole body is involved — REM in human sleep stands for rapid eye movement, but in greyhound sleep it stands for rapid everything movement.
As Daisy chases her dream quarry, the wind screaming in her ears, you can see her swerve, one spasming hind leg driving her one way, and then the other driving her back. She lets out little whimpers, or is it greyhound laughter?
And then, as suddenly as it began, the chase is over and Daisy settles down. After a moment of composure, just before settling back into deep sleep, her tail twitches, rises and then wags twice, thumping solidly into the sofa.
Another thoroughly enjoyable Daisy dream.
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