Dog in the Doorway

"Why in the hell do you always lay in the damn doorways" I mumbled as I yet again stepped over the dog that was sprawled right in the doorway of the living room and kitchen divider. I sighed as I turned to stare at his completely oblivious, yet happy face. Smiling, I bent over to give him pets on his head.

"You stink, my friend," I tell him as he smiles, utterly oblivious to anything else besides my attention. "We need to set an appointment with the dog groomer," I tell him as he side eyes me and proceeds to flip over and walk away as if offended.

Sighing, I head to the couch, hoping to find something on TV to take my mind off the last few months. Things were good, just mundane. I guess you could say I'm in a rut. Scanning through all of the streaming services on my tube, I decided on one of my favorites, an oldie, but a goodie. Paranormal: Caught on Camera was one of my relax and veg out shows, so I put it on. As I curled up in the corner of the small sectional in my apartment, I grabbed my blanket and prepared to watch as my lids started to get heavy. Slipping into blissful dreamland, my program on in the background, and the dog in the damn doorway again, I started to dream.

Startled, I woke up in a sweaty heap in the corner of the couch, my T.V. asking if I was still watching. I looked around, making sure I was fully awake before I started to unfold myself from the tangle of blankets. I hadn't meant to fall asleep, and as I looked at the clock it said 7:30 p.m. "Damn" I muttered as I, yet again, stepped over the dog to head into the kitchen to wrangle up some girl dinner.

As I waited by the microwave for my beef and bean burritos to finish, I looked around my small, but tidy kitchen. Have you ever wondered if something was off? Almost like everything was so close, yet different so you start second-guessing things? That's what I did as I spun a small circle and saw things that were, well, off. My pictures were slightly off, the dishes in the sink were on the rinse side, and not the wash side. You know, the strange little things that no one but you would notice.

Scrunching up my face, I looked around and saw enough things out of the ordinary that I started to panic. This wasn't my apartment, I looked in the drawers and in the cabinets and things weren't where I would put them, but they were all mine. Just....different. I started to panic, breathing heavily and my sight started to become like tunnel vision when I saw the door handle start to turn, and I ran back into the living room.

The living room where everything was perfect, everything the same as always. I looked at Midas, the wooly husky I had rescued a few years ago, and his head was in the kitchen as the rest of him lay mostly in the living room. He stared up like he was waiting for me to pet him, yet I wasn't anywhere close. He looked content, then slowly rolled over like he does and ambled off to his dog bed.

I went back into the kitchen, and everything was fine, just as I had arranged everything upon moving in. Shaking my head, I decided it was a mix of just waking up and falling asleep to my paranormal shows. Must have mixed up my brain.

After eating my burritos, I decided I would make it an early night and head to bed. Pretty sure all I needed was a good night's sleep.

After an exhausting day the next day, I came home the same as every other day. Midas, lying in the in-between of the doorway as always, and I stepped over him, he suddenly jumped up and I tripped, falling to the side, then face-first into the living room.

"Dammit" I grumbled as I turned to scold him, but he was nowhere to be seen. I could hear someone, sounding far away, saying "Good boy, where have you been?" Confusion sprung up on my face as I looked around for my dog, and whomever was talking. I started back into the kitchen to get an ice pack for my face, and I heard a yip, just like Midas made when he wanted his toy.

"What the hell is happening?" I said to myself. The person I was hearing sounded like.....me.

It felt like I was walking through a fog as I entered the kitchen. There sat Midas, and another me. They both turned and the shock on the other, well, me's, face was probably exactly like mine. She, I, well, we both looked like we were seeing a ghost. Everything is the same, just a little different. Her hair was shorter and styled differently. She was also a bit smaller than me, but it was definitely me. No doubts. The glasses, the way she smiled, even the slight lazy left eye. Me, but not completely me.

She recovered first, and her face lit up with recognition.

"Hi," she beamed at me as she was still petting Midas. He looked at me with his tongue hanging out, totally non-plussed with the whole scenario. "I guess you also found the dog in the doorway," she said with a smile as I slowly started to remember where I had found him. Midas had been soaking wet, and crying when I had found him. He was in a doorway, shaking and scared in an alley. He came right up to me, and I brought him home, He had been mine ever since. I could feel myself starting to tingle, and looked down to see myself starting to fade, and was in my living room, once again. Midas lay halfway in between the doorways, a knowing smile on his face.