My dream opens like a tv show, somewhat fuzzy at first then clearning up. My house is a farm, pretty and green and cheerful. Two chickens have just layed eggs, and I put them into the incubator for hatching. I walk about and notice a small dark grey puppy on one of the ledges. I found a golden retriever earlier in the week and wonder what’s going on. I walk over to the puppy and notice that it’s biting itself. It then bites my godlen retriever, and that’s when I notice the foam around it’s tiny teeth. Rabies. I flip out. Merlin is outside as well, and is soon infected. My family and I lock ourselves in the house. At least Nimmy and Coconut are safe. I know we can still rescue Skel, but my dad is too lazy. I plead with him to run outside and grab the bunny. “We can let him run in the basement in a little pen! He’ll still be happy,” I beg. My dad says he’ll do it later. Skel becomes infected.

I watch Merlin and my golden retriever howl in agony. I’m crying so hard, my precious Merlin is going to die and I shall never see him again. My best friend, the dog I often called my boyfriend when I was feeling single and lonely. He’s going to die…

Commercial break.

The eppidermic is finally over. There are no animals left on our farm, and the bodies have been disposed of. As I walk into the chicken coop to begin to prepare it for new animals, I hear cheeping. Somehow the two eggs hatched and survived the rabies without becoming infected. But the two birds will never replace my Merlin.