Imaginary Dog

and why you might need one

She never left my side. She sat beside my desk in Mrs. Zempko’s third grade class. She gave me strength to stand up to bullies. She nudged me when I knew the answer, but was afraid to raise my hand.

She did not have a name. She didn’t need one. What need for a name when she was always by my side? She knew my thoughts. I knew hers.

In the very unusual short story, She Unnames Them, by Ursula Leguin, Eve unnames all of the animals that Adam has named.

“None were left now to unname, and they seemed far closer to me than when their names had stood between us. Ursula Leguin

My mother called her, “The Dog”.

I knew, though she might go away for a time, that she’d never disappear. She’d be with me forever.

And I was right. She appeared once in a real dog, a border collie that could read my mind. She is here now as my muse. She’s patient, gentle, fierce when wronged, and I can hear her sigh deeply every now and again. I always pay attention when she sighs. I look up from my desk, listen, l…