WHAT’S SO FUNNY: In your dreams, Booker

The other night I was supposed to be working but I got sidetracked analyzing my dog’s dreams. It’s easy once you can get them to the couch.

Booker is a Welsh Springer spaniel, a hard worker. He patrols the yard. He barks when you come to the door. He accompanies Patti Jo to her shop. When she and I go out, he looks out the window until we come back. Then he can rest.

Watching him sleep, I envied him enormously. He was so peaceful, there on his side, one paw hanging over the edge of my office couch, so relaxed his eyelids didn’t even make it all the way shut. His breathing defined nirvana.

But then, as it sometimes does, the twitching started — first in one paw, then two, then all four flailing, with a whimper thrown in.

When a dog moves in his dreams, people like to say, “He’s chasing rabbits.” But Booker’s usually running for his life.

We’re similar personality types. As a small boy I had non-PC nightmares about Indians and witches. They were always going to get me. I outgrew those and now have job-performance nightmares based on career death instead of literal death.

Booker is a timid, childlike soul, but he’s an adult dog with responsibilities, too, so his nightmares are both types.

Sometimes he’s stuck in the kitchen while lizards overrun the house, skittering in the windows and under the doors. It’s Booker’s job to catch lizards, but he can’t get any traction on the kitchen floor. His claws clack, he spins his wheels while they climb onto the counters, eating everyone’s dinner.

Tonight, though, it starts as a happy walk with Dad on the other end of the leash, and then that unpredictable Shepherd mix from down the street appears. He’s mean and big, and Dad’s brought his laptop — on the walk! — Dad’s not paying attention, the other dog’s snarling, stalking, growling, coming forward, and Dad is TYPING! He’s not even looking while the Shepherd mix comes closer, closer.

Amid a paroxysm of spasmodic kicking, Booker hears me call his name and wakes up. Looks around to get his bearings. Dad’s office. Oh.

“You were dreaming, Book.”

He shivers once, crawls stiffly off the couch and goes downstairs to check the doors and windows.

I hope to see some progress with a few more sessions.

SHERWOOD KIRALY is a Laguna Beach resident. He has written four novels, three of which were critically acclaimed.