"The Ark" drabbles by Rhiannon

The Black Dog

The Ark #2

The black dog has slipped between our sheets tonight.

He gnaws at my earlobes and nuzzles his snout, deep to the nape of my neck.

He lies there, twitching ears pricked, waiting for an unknown, unseen phenomenon.

Waiting.

Finally in the early hours silence beckons sleep...

A tap drips.

He barks.

Knees jerk, biting between ribs as he digs deeper into the folds, burying his bones in the blanket.

It drips again, thunderously demanding.

He howls and snaps. Wounded but unmoved he orders redemption as I emerge from the fog of sleep.

I will up, lest he bares his teeth.

The Elephant

The Ark #1

Overhead she stirs.

Muffling floorboards announce her departure.

A door slams.

The corridor above echoes its insults as she begins her midweekly pilgrimage. I imagine her: strong, heavy set; an ungainly torpedo.

Closer.

I hear her.

I catch my breath.

A nearby door bangs.

The corridor outside pulsates for a second of thumping-feet-calamity and clinking rubbish. Her shadow passes my door with trumpeted profanity.

The fire escape gasps under her weight, sucking in the afternoon air.

Her fanfare abruptly ends with the satisfying thunk of the same hissing door behind her.

I close my eyes.

Exhale.

Peace rains.