Siri in Isolation

I’m stretched out on my boy’s big bed in the gelid dark when I hear the pss, pss sound that my mom human makes when she opens the kitchen door in the morning. I push my way out of the door and see her at the top of the stairs with her arms open, and I run up to greet her. She kisses my nose and forehead and says I’m a lovely girl. She calls me ‘pussycat’ which is odd, because I’m a big heavy dog. She takes me to the garden so I can do a  xixi  (we pronounce it ‘shi-shi’),   saying we’re the only women in this house and it’s important to pee first thing. Then we go to the kitchen where she fixes me breakfast, heating up chicken and broth to mix with my kibble. I watch her and lick my chops in anticipation. Then she sets up a breakfast tray for her and my dad human, and says, “Go on up to dad,” and I run up the stairs and jump on the bed, where my dad human is all happy to see me. Sitting in bed they share an orange, and each give me bits of their segments. I keep looking a...