chrissie brodigan
The Four-Dog Life: Aslan
Aslan, Zorro, Paisley, and Lucy—that’s exactly the order in which they came into my life.
Aslan, 6 year-old pug
Aslan was/is my first dog. Prone to leaping in and out of relationships, on the mend from a failed engagement and cancelled wedding, I decided to glue myself back together by adopting a pug.
He was on his way from Winchester and I was waiting in the parking lot of the Manassas Cracker Barrel. Anyone who knows anything about good breeding and how to find the right and best dog knows that you do not begin and end your search at a Cracker Barrel. Unless you’re me.
I had chosen the name Aslan many years before, having re-read C.S. Lewis with greater appreciation for his complicated narrative. I needed a lion to keep me in line, and sure enough Aslan was my little lion, minus the mane, roar, and proud presence. As I consider it, I believe that I was his lion instead.
He’s 22lbs, soft and snuggley and snores loudly. He’s happiest sleeping in the windowsill like a cat or in the nook of my stomach or behind my knees. I have trouble sleeping when he’s not around, he creates a comforting ambient noise that reminds me that I’m far from being alone in the world, even the small world of my apartment.
He’s the most mischevious of my bunch. When it’s time to walk, he races under the bed, ducks behind the red velvet chair, prances about begging me to chase him. He rarely moves otherwise.
Among his many endearing qualities is his underbite and extra-long tongue that perpetually lounges out of his mouth on his comfortable wrinkly jowels.
I’m convinced to this day that he has opposable thumbs, having ascended the to kitchen table and devoured an entire ribbon-sealed box of Jaque Torres chocolates. (Just Google “chocolate+dog” and you’ll see why my heart stopped on that particular afternoon).
I never thought the great love of my life would be anything less than a lion;)