Vanilla Twilight

There is a song by Owl City called Vanilla Twilight, and it is about a guy who hasn't slept for days because all he can think about is (presumably) a girl.  Strangely, every time I think of this song, I am reminded of my dog.  She spends her nights alone outside and misses everyone, barking and whining at all hours to prove it.  But maybe it is just the lyrics in that song that talk about sitting on the front porch all night that remind me of my dog waiting in the backyard.

So, last night I was falling asleep to this song, as it is easy to do so despite that fact that the guy apparently suffers from separation anxiety-induced insomnia, of all things.  Oh the irony.  

But I should also add that there was a huge storm at my house last night, and the dog was inside.  So just as I was falling asleep to the lightning and the lyrics "I'll watch the night turn light blue..." , some presence bolted through my door.  It was my scardy-cat dog (pardon the expression).  

Now, I have a loft bed, so my room's setup kinda looks like this (yes, you must click the link).  My dog was at the bottom of the ladder, wondering where the heck I had gone (I usually sleep in the loft).  She would not stop whining because the storm  scared her so much.  Although part of me wanted to throw a pillow down below in desperation to get her to shut up, the girl in me could not ignore how cute this was.  Hence I felt compelled to get out of bed, climb down the ladder, and sleep on the bottom bed (which is a chore I usually take on only when my alarm clock goes off in the morning).

But that wasn't enough for her.  As I was falling asleep to the lyrics "'cause I'll doze off safe and soundly..." another lightning bolt struck somewhere far away and Lorie believed this gave her the right to leap into bed with me.  And she did just that.  Again, I actually found this scene too cute to kick her out of bed.  I just let it be...

Until hours later when she got jealous of my plushie. 
So, once again, I could not help but give in to her cute charms (even though she was pushing my defenseless plushie out of the way).

When the storm worsened, this still did not satisfy her.  I was forced to sing her to sleep.  I should also add that my dog is a rather narcissistic creature; hence she will not accept my musical talent unless the song explicitly has lyrics with her name in them at least twice per verse. (And lastly, I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes).

All of a sudden, the song I was listening to last night does not seem so serene anymore.  Because it will now forever remind me of spending the night sharing my bed with (and babying) my fat and fluffy Australian Shepherd to some near-ungodly hour, and doing so in a room swarming with mosquitoes and smelling of hamsters (due to our terrible swamp cooler).  I was indeed "drenched in vanilla twilight" when I was rudely awakened this morning to her slobbering on my face.

Vanilla Twilight now has a whole new meaning with the lyrics, "'but I swear I won't forget you".