Friday I asked people on Facebook – I often post questions for readers – if they believe their dogs dream, and I was startled within a few hours to have more than 250 replies almost all of them saying the same thing: yes, absolutely. It is always interesting to me how strongly dog and cat lovers feel about their pets, how certain they are about subjects like dreaming and grieving. Yet I was touched by the fervor of these replies and so this morning I posted another topic asking people to imagine what the content of these animal dreams might be.

Think of it, a chance to share this leap of faith, this interactive, inter-species rite of imagination. I share my stories with you all of the time, and I would love to see and hear your stories. Facebook is a challenge sometimes, as is most social media, but it is also a gift sometimes and this kind of relationship between a writer and his readers, a new kind of story-telling unimaginable for most of human history is exciting. The stories of these animal dreams have begun to come in, and they are already enchanting for me. If you believe animals have dreams, please try and imagine yours (briefly) and post it. And thank you. This is creativity, and it is also a new kind of relationship between people who make stories and those who love them.

I’ll join in. I imagine Frieda dreaming of the time when she was running wild in the Adirondacks, having been abandoned there. I imagine her digging holes in the mud and rocks to stay dry and warm. Chasing rabbits, eating berries, running through the woods after mice and chipmunk, lapping up cool water in streams. I imagine her loving her freedom, reveling in it. I imagine her being wily and strong, dodging bears and packs of coyotes. I imagine her bounding through the woods, napping in meadows, dry in caves duing the winter. I think she dreams of living the life of an ancient dog, free and wild and challenged every day. Come and post your animal dreams if you wish. Right here.