<link href="css/hmh.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/> <meta content="urn:uuid:2c41a40a-cb55-4132-b24d-212ca14c2b04" name="Adept.expected.resource"/> </head> <body><a id="p36"/> <h1 class="chaptertitle ">Morning Greeting</h1> <h2 class="chaptersubtitle ">Casey O’Malley, age 12</h2> <p class="left "> <em>Our old stairs creak whenever you walk on them, sagging under the weight of age. Their noise is the only sound in the morning. Everything seems asleep. But when I peer down to the floor, I see a flutter of cheerful wakefulness. A ginger-colored dog comes wriggling up, happy just to see me. Her fur takes on a brilliant shine in the morning, and her endearing brown eyes penetrate right into me. I smile as she paws my feet and waits for me to pet her.</em> </p> <div class="timebreak "> </div> <p class="left "> <em>But she isn’t satisfied with a simple, superficial pat. With her nose she’ll push me over to a chair and wait for me to sit down, her tail wagging furiously all the while. She sets her smiling face on my knee and looks up into my eyes as I massage her velvety ears and murmur, “Good dog . . . what a good puppy.” Then we’ll both just sit there in wordless understanding. After a few silent minutes, she’ll lumber back to her dog bed, plop down, and set her head on its rim, watching me with a look of serene devotion.</em> </p> <a id="p37"/> <div class="timebreak "> </div> <div class="three-quarter both-space breakafter "> <img alt=" " id="fig_TheWorldAccordingToDog-46-1" src="images/TheWorldAccordingToDog-46-1.jpg"/> <p class="caption subcaption">Freya<br/> golden retriever, age 3</p> </div> <a id="p38"/> <div class="full "> <img alt=" " id="fig_TheWorldAccordingToDog-24" src="images/TheWorldAccordingToDog-24.jpg"/> </div> </body> </html>