The Black Sage Journal

  My eyes pop open and I know it’s 5:00 a.m. Without even looking at the clock I know. Because it’s always 5:00 a.m. when Joji sleeps over. The awakening starts with the ritual shaking. The flapping of ears and jowls accompanied by the tinkling of collar tags. Then the huffing and sneezing begins. And the pacing back and forth across the bed. It’s all performative art of course. Joji doesn’t need to clear the stardust from his system. He just wants me to get up. I hold the line, hoping that he’ll go back to sleep if I just ignore his antics long enough. But Joji knows it’s a ruse because he’s seen it before. He also understands that my resistance is no match for his German will and terrier-like determination. So he starts in on the vocalizations. At first, it’s not much more than a series of muffled snorts. As he becomes more insistent, the snorts morph into soft, guttural growls which themselves ultimately evolve into outright barking. The whole thing would be hilarious and endearing