I thought the dog was lying next to me, while I was working at the desk in the basement. I could see his furry body out of the corner of my eye, curled up on the carpet. I went on typing and felt comforted by his presence. I had my headphones on, but I didn’t have to worry about being caught off guard because I knew he would jump up and bark if anyone came down the stairs. I finished a paragraph and knelt down to crawl over and scratch his belly. As I extended my hand, I realized it was only his toy stuffed squirrel lying next to me on the carpet the whole time—comforting me, protecting me.