i got a funny feeling when i heard mary is getting a puppy. i think i started walking hilde when she was about two and ended with the pandemic 13 years later. i think when she was 7 comet came along and i walked him until the pandemic. when we got vaccinated i was ready to start walking comet and hilde again, but hilde died. then i walked comet while mary was on vacation and he started limping. he had a torn ligament that was ultimately linked to bone cancer. i went to keep him company during the days while he was waiting to die. so then the house was bereft of dogs. then mary got on the waiting list for a puppy. a while later she was notified her puppy was born. she expressed some trepidation and i expressed some too, though i didn't want to be a naysayer. the circumstances have changed, and i thought they wouldn't be around as much for a puppy, and the puppy would be alone in a crate. then i didn't hear any more, so i asked, and got no answer. and yesterday i heard from her friend the puppy is coming, and i wonder when and if she was going to tell me. that's where it rests, with this funny feeling, something changed between us, and i may not be walking the puppy.