Is he lazy? Is that a trick question? It feels like a trick question. Of course Tamago is lazy. There was so much growing going on inside that little body that it took up most of his energy. The rest of the energy? That was consumed by painting. And pestering his mums. And chasing butterflies. What was he to do if he couldn't chase butterflies, hmm? Exactly. Let him be! Let sleepy lions... sleep! Yeah. He could be lazy, he's just little. All he wants, at least for now, is to be as comfy and lazy as possible. All the time! Absolutely all the time. And so he does. It was time for an afternoon nap. Lunch had been eaten. Paintings had been painted. The spring sun was shining down all around him, and Tama stretched out comfortably in the grass near the den. It was hard not to be sleepy with the sun so warm and cozy and comfy. Really, all of him is comfy. The boy pillowed his chin on his paws and curled up in a warm sunny spot. Eyes getting heavier... and heavier... and heavier. Letting them drift shut as he finally dozed off for a nap. Yeah, this was the life.

The warm, sunny day spells a sense of general lethargy among the pups as their growing bodies take every chance the can get to sleep. Unagi is laying in a shallow puddle of water, her black side pressed into the cool ground, as she takes a post lunch nap. The water cools the heat that the dark fur seems to absorb and the girl happily drifts along the currents of dreams. The side sticking up in the air, lifts and descends in a slow, deep rhythm while her eyes twitch from side to side as she chases a large deer in her dream.

Legs jerk and lips curl as she races after the creature, as fast as the wind in her dream. Flies lazily buzz around her form, alighting on the pup’s sleeping form before her muscles twitch to unseat them. Unagi closes in on her prey, mouth opening as sharp teeth seek to bring the beast low. Just as her jaws part in the waking world a rather rude fly decides to inspect the yawning cavern that has just opened up and it speeds into the dark abyss of the girl’s mouth.

Everything shifts abruptly as Unagi is awakened by the sudden urge to gag and vomit, the bug having flown in and hit the back of her throat. Jolting upright, the air is suddenly filled with loud coughing, sputtering, and hacking as Unagi issues all the bad words (which, to date, are shit and crap) in a string of jumbled, child curses. Finally, the pesky bug is expelled and she stares at it in disgust, the small form covered in drool and most assuredly dead. Loudly, the girl shouts, “That is disgusting!”

Unagi hopes that no one else is near the family den trying to nap because it might be pretty embarrassing to try to explain what has just happened. Stupid bug.


"Hattori-Klein Unagi"