Three Bears Honey and Crafts Emporium

It isn’t very comfortable, sleeping in the driver’s side of my car. And it isn’t very safe, but what are ya gonna do? My two dogs took up the back seat, and our cooler, leftover dinner, and assorted snacks were in the front passenger side, along with my purse and extra shoes in the front passenger floor. Our doors were locked and I was exhausted from our “escape” drive — we were escaping my bad choice in human relationships — a controlling and abusive now ex-boyfriend.

I’m not sure why I woke up, it was still dark out — although we were parked under the bright light at the far end of the Walmart parking lot, along with a couple of RVs and a van. Squinting and rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I could swear there was a cat sitting on the hood of the car, and now I thought I must be dreaming, because the polydactyl cat was holding a cigarette, and seemed to be taking tokes while watching something out beyond my sight.

I pinched myself, and glanced into the back seat where my two mutts snored heavily, the larger one (Max) stretched out along the bench seat, while the smaller one (Cindy) was curled in a tight ball, at the very edge of the seat, partly balanced on a tupperware container of dog treats balanced on the hump in the center of the floor with bags and boxes on both sides of it.