Little heavens: Bed cuddles

Inspired by Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, I’m going to write occasional blogs about some of life’s small pleasures. I’ve chosen to call mine ‘little heavens’ – heavenly moments that punctuate the mundane.

13.4.20

We’ve managed to designate the bed as a no-go zone for our adopted husky Hyko. It’s a rule that he adheres to unless he’s feeling particularly mischievous. Which is great, except for when we actually want his company on the bed. Like this morning.

Hyko isn’t one for affection. He’s six years old, middle aged in dog years, and he has the attitude of a grumpy old man. He lopes around at his own pace, seemingly indifferent to anything happening around him, but always keeping a watchful eye on what’s going on.

Despite being completely aloof, he’s also needy. He loves us in a quiet way. Or, at least, we think he does. He always likes to keep us in sight. And he has separation anxiety so we can’t ever leave him alone. If we do – and we’ve only tried this twice – he’ll leave a… parcel… on our bed.

Today’s the Easter bank holiday Monday. There’s no rush to get up so we laze around in bed, reading our respective books (Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights for me, Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman for Bella). The sun streams in through the window. The birds are singing outside. The only thing that can make it better is having Hyko lying on the bed with us.

We try all our tricks – putting on our best baby voices (a dog psychologist told us high-pitched voices would get Hyko excited), drumming up excitement by patting the bed. Nothing. Then Annabel remembers she has one treat left in her bedside cupboard.

I hold the treat out in front of me and Hyko leaps up straight away to claim his reward. Then he settles down between my legs on the bed, and finally the scene is complete. Pure heaven. We stroke him but warn each other not to stroke too hard, lest he jump off and the spell is broken.

A minute passes. Then, like always, he drops off to lie a few feet away from us on the floor. But for that minute? Paradise.