Wake Up Call
© 2022 by Walter Reimer

Thumbnail by  marmelmm


I had planned on sleeping in today.

No, really.

My Muse had other ideas, though, and I felt her nestling up against my back shortly before the tip of her tongue tickled the fur on my left ear.

“Good morning. Today is Sunday, the twentieth day of February, twenty twenty-two,” the Muse said. In a male voice, with an accent reminiscent of Chico Marx.

That almost made me wake up, and when I rolled over I became fully awake, despite the fact that my eyes were still closed. You see, the Muse was deciding to be cute today.

Notably, the really cheesy, stereotypical Italian accent, but when I finally succeeded in opening my eyes I saw that the Muse was a male fox, rather scrawny, elderly, and dressed in white Papal walking-about costume.

“Gah!” I yelped, and pushed the furry version of Paul VI out of my bed. “Don’t DO that!”

The Muse had rolled out of bed and landed on the floor with a heavy thump. She stood up and shooed the thump away before grinning at me, her paws on her hips. She was now a brown-furred wolfess with a pageboy mop of black hair and a knockout figure.

I recognized the reference immediately. “So, you’re going to insist on me getting up, huh?”

“Yeah!” she said in a cheerful tone. “You, meine Liebe, have things to do today.”

“As when don’t I?” I asked, sitting up and scratching under my ribs. I felt my tail starting to wag. One great thing about anthro canines; we can give ourselves belly rubs. I looked up at Stephanie. “So.”

The Muse grinned, her tail wagging. “You have several storylines in progress – “

“And I know that.”

“And you have time scheduled for work on all three today.” She reached out and tapped my nose with a finger, “So you can’t spend all day watching the Fußball, okay Liebchen?” Her ears swiveled and she straightened up. “Now, time to get up.”

“Or?” See? I can tease too.

A riding crop appeared in her paw.

I chuckled and got to my feet. Coffee first, followed by breakfast and the crossword puzzle . . .


end