The first day back from our trip we hardly saw Spike at all. He made his presence known by walking ever so slowly across the living room. But he took care never to look at us. If we tried to pet him, he just went on his way.

“Oh,” he seemed to be saying. “You.”

“Hi, Spike. We’re home. It’s so good to see you. We missed you.”

“Let’s see, you are WHO again?”

“Knock it off, now. You knew we were coming back. We thought of
you constantly.”

“Let’s see. You’re the people who left and went away. I remember now.”

“Spike, c’mon.”

“I’ve gotten on quite well in your absence. Care to feed me? I’ll allow you to do so. Then, you sorry excuses for caring human beings may take your leave.”

The following day, Spike permitted us to pet him. Bond, meanwhile, didn’t crash into tables. He just jumped on us.

We were home. Things were back to normal.