and underneath it all, relief

Yes, I was tearing through books constantly, and talking to this teacher at least weekly. Because even though I always loved reading as a kid, literature was always a very weak subject for me in terms of a teaching-to-standardized-test school setting (I just do awful on "what color were the curtains" type multiple choice questions. Those details don't stick in my memory THEY JUST DON'T). But that didn't matter for this class. I could just read my way out of any bad test score. I have always had fond memories of how I "fudged" my way through that class and "abused' the extra credit policy.

Dolphins doing cartwheels with an aquarium guest.

He had been at the Cottage for a grand total of three hours now, ready to start his relaxing holiday. Hell, the groceries he had bought hadn't even been moved from the stack of bags on the island counter where they had been placed haphazardly.

Shane had meant to deal with that as soon as possible but unfortunately, very foreseen circumstances had distracted him from his task and sent him running outside and into the chaos.

Opening his contacts, he flicked down to a very familiar number and pressed the call button, shooting an annoyed look towards the dining room table as he raised it to his ear.

The phone rang three times before it was answered with a soft hello.

"Hi Janice, it's Shane." He said, his tone curt, his eyes not leaving the scene before him.

He listened for a moment, hearing the reply.

"Yes, the holiday just started. We arrived today actually." He continued.

There was another pause. And then….

"I don't want to know who won the bet. I just wanted to let you know, it happened again."

Another pause.

"No. Not a Bear this time, thankfully. You don't need to send everyone out here. Just Marcel will do."

Silence for a moment as Shane listened. And then….

"A baby loon actually."

Quickly he raised a hand to stop an argument coming from the dining area.

"Yeah, he thought it was an injured duck."

Silence and then.

"Ok. Thank you Janice. We will wait for Marcel to arrive. Hopefully he hasn't named it this time."

Then Shane hung up the phone, his head dropping so he could stare at the device intently.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, he held it for a few seconds before slowly releasing it through his mouth.

Then he again raised his head to glare at the table. Where Ilya sat, mud splattered and cradling a thick towel to his chest. At his feet, equally mud splattered, her tail wagging, sat Anya. Thank God she was well trained enough not to start running through the place. As Shane stared, a small and incredibly ugly head popped out of the folds of fabric, looking around in confusion.

"You can't keep it, Ilya." He said pointedly.

Ilya threw him a disappointed look, his grip on the towel tightening.

"But Katya looked so cold and scared outside." He argued. "I couldn't just leave her. Not my fault she turned out to be an ugly, stupid wolf bird. Besides, Anya bonded with her."

Shane groaned and dropped his head to meet the cool stone counter.

"Ilya, God Dammit!"

-

Trevor Noah has a great tip, that when he craves ice cream at night he breaks it down into parts: I want something cold, I want something sweet. He drinks a glass of cold water then waits to see if he still has the ice cream craving. Usually he doesn’t.

So listening to your body isn’t “follow every urge” but “decompose the urge to discover the underlying need.”

If you always feel like getting cozy in bed you may be: cold, dehydrated, and/or malnourished (maybe a need for high calories that are bioaccessible…not processed).

If you do not feel tired at bedtime you may: need to eat dinner earlier because your body is still digesting, need to exercise or go outside more during the day, get the fuck off your screen for an hour so your brain can enter sleep mode.

Hope this helps someone.