Speaker 1: Welcome to bedtime Stories for grown ups in which nothing
Speaker 1: much happens, you feel good, and then you fall asleep.
Speaker 1: I'm Catherine Nikolay. I read and write all the stories
Speaker 1: you hear on Nothing Much Happens Audio Engineering is by
Speaker 1: Bob Wittersheim. If you enjoy these bedtime stories, I think
Speaker 1: you will find even more enjoyment from my book, also
Speaker 1: called Nothing Much Happens. Along with favorite and never before
Speaker 1: heard stories, there are beautiful illustrations, recipes, guided meditations, and
Speaker 1: more available wherever books are sold, or along with our
Speaker 1: ad free and bonus feeds at Nothing Much Happens dot Com.
Speaker 1: Now let me say a little about how this podcast works.
Speaker 1: The story I'm about to tell you is like a
Speaker 1: soft nest to settle your mind into, and you do
Speaker 1: that just by following along with the sound of my
Speaker 1: voice and the simple, soothing details of the story. I'll
Speaker 1: tell it twice, and I'll go a little slower the
Speaker 1: second time. Just by listening, you are training your brain
Speaker 1: to shift into a focused, calm place rather than wandering,
Speaker 1: and over time you'll notice that you'll fall asleep faster
Speaker 1: and return to sleep more easily. Building better habits takes time,
Speaker 1: so be patient. Now it's time to put down anything
Speaker 1: you've been looking at and switch off the light. Listen.
Speaker 1: You have done enough for the day. Please feel that
Speaker 1: down to your bones. It is enough and your rest
Speaker 1: and comfort are important. So slide down into your sheets
Speaker 1: and get as comfortable as you can. Take a slow,
Speaker 1: deep breath in through the nose and let it out
Speaker 1: through your mouth, in and out good. Our story tonight
Speaker 1: is called Crumb Comes Home, and it's a story about
Speaker 1: a little dog and his first few months with his
Speaker 1: new family. It's also about learning new things, matching Christmas sweaters,
Speaker 1: and taking long naps when you know you're home for good.
Speaker 1: Crumb Comes Home. It had been about six months since
Speaker 1: Crumb had come home, and when he had he'd come
Speaker 1: to stay. He was a little brown dog with spiky,
Speaker 1: wiry hair and a lot of energy. I wasn't sure
Speaker 1: what to expect when I'd driven home with him that
Speaker 1: day last fall. I'd tucked him into his car seat
Speaker 1: beside me and piled some supplies into the footwell, a
Speaker 1: big bag of kibble, a new leash and collar, his
Speaker 1: own food dishes, a sweater, and a new bed. He'd
Speaker 1: watched me load it all into the car, just thumping
Speaker 1: his tail against the seat belt, and to the degree
Speaker 1: that a dog with a prominent snaggletooth and a funny
Speaker 1: mustach ah can. He smiled. He didn't seem to be
Speaker 1: anxious at all to be going somewhere with a stranger. Instead,
Speaker 1: he was excited and happy. He'd been waiting for me,
Speaker 1: and finally I had shown up. I kept one hand
Speaker 1: on his back as we drove back to the house.
Speaker 1: He turned his head now and then to lick my wrist.
Speaker 1: We passed the park and I promised him we'd go
Speaker 1: for a walk there soon. When we pulled into the driveway,
Speaker 1: I unclipped him from his seat and scooted him over
Speaker 1: onto my lap. Now, crumb, I said, in a low voice.
Speaker 1: When we go in, i'll introduce you to Marmalade. He
Speaker 1: looked up at me, his mouth falling open a bit
Speaker 1: and panting excitedly. Now she was here first, and she's
Speaker 1: the queen of the castle. Okay, he closed his mouth
Speaker 1: and tilted his head to one side. I know, I know,
Speaker 1: but that's how it is. You and I were just
Speaker 1: her subjects, got it. He spotted a falling leaf outside
Speaker 1: the window and jumped down to the console beside me.
Speaker 1: Will we'll talk more later, I laughed as I scooped
Speaker 1: him up and carried him into the house. Marmalade, my
Speaker 1: orange kitty, now nearly two years old and apparently having
Speaker 1: heard my car in the drive, was sitting on the
Speaker 1: third step in the hall. Her eyes got big when
Speaker 1: she saw crumb in my arms, and she looked at
Speaker 1: me with shock. I carried him over and sat down
Speaker 1: on the step beside her, with him in my lap.
Speaker 1: We talked about it. I reminded her you agreed I
Speaker 1: should bring him home. She looked like she had no
Speaker 1: such memory, and slowly stretched out her nose toward him.
Speaker 1: He had been busy looking around the room, struggling to
Speaker 1: get out of my arms to explore, when he noticed her,
Speaker 1: and it was well, I don't know how else to
Speaker 1: say it. For him, at least, it was love at
Speaker 1: first sight. His ears spread out low and soft on
Speaker 1: his head, and his little whip of a tail started
Speaker 1: wagging so fast it seemed to blur in the air.
Speaker 1: He dipped down into what might have been a playbow,
Speaker 1: but didn't try to jump or choke. He just bowed
Speaker 1: down to her. Her face relaxed out of its previous shock,
Speaker 1: and she closed her eyes and lifted a paw to
Speaker 1: her mouth and began to bathe. No big deal, she
Speaker 1: seemed to say, I have this effect on people. That
Speaker 1: first night, there was a slight dust up when it
Speaker 1: came to sleeping arrangements. Crumb was so excited to be
Speaker 1: cuddled up in a nice, big bed with a human
Speaker 1: that he was jumping from pillow to pillow. Marmee was
Speaker 1: clearly ready for her beauty rest, and the pup was
Speaker 1: disrupting her serenity. One swift hiss from her and he
Speaker 1: dropped into the space beside my shoulder. He turned around
Speaker 1: twice and I pulled a blanket up over him. Marmee
Speaker 1: slept on the pillow on my other side, and that
Speaker 1: became the arrangement to this day. I soon learned that
Speaker 1: though he was a few years old, there were plenty
Speaker 1: of things he'd never done before. One was walking on
Speaker 1: a leash, and we'd spent the autumn months learning as
Speaker 1: a team how to make walks safe and enjoyable. He
Speaker 1: turned out to be a quick learner. He was a
Speaker 1: smart pop and eager to please, so once he figured
Speaker 1: out that mom had treats in her pocket, and that
Speaker 1: at least occasionally listening to her earned himself. He'd gotten
Speaker 1: the hang of a lot of things. He learned to
Speaker 1: ask to go out with a few yips at the
Speaker 1: back door, and he could sit and lay down come
Speaker 1: when I called. He still ran from the bath, and
Speaker 1: twice I'd caught him breaking into the pantry to tear
Speaker 1: into a bag of treats. But even when he was
Speaker 1: a bad dog, he was a good boy. Marmalade had
Speaker 1: taught him to jump when the toast popped out of
Speaker 1: the toaster in the morning, and sometimes he even barked
Speaker 1: in excitement when it happened. In the winter, I'd put
Speaker 1: both their beds by the fire, and poor Crumb just
Speaker 1: wanted to lay in Marmalade's with her for a while.
Speaker 1: She'd stalk out whenever he attempted a cuddle, but one
Speaker 1: a specially cold day, when an icy wind was pushing
Speaker 1: through the tiny cracks in our old windows and doors,
Speaker 1: she'd tiptoed over into his bed and stretched out beside him.
Speaker 1: They'd slept like that a few hours, and when they woke,
Speaker 1: Marmie cleaned his face for him and purred while he
Speaker 1: wriggled beside her. And now that was how they napped
Speaker 1: most days. Sometimes when he chewed her cat toys or
Speaker 1: got two riled up with puppy energy chase seeing a
Speaker 1: ball down the hall, she'd meow in agitation. But I
Speaker 1: reminded her that once she'd been out in the snow,
Speaker 1: once she hadn't had a home or a family, and
Speaker 1: now that she did, she shouldn't begrudged from his own.
Speaker 1: And in families, well, you have to have a little
Speaker 1: patience with one another. You have to give each other
Speaker 1: a room to be individuals and make allowances for each
Speaker 1: other's differences. Then I would scoop her up into my
Speaker 1: arms and carry her to our chair by the window,
Speaker 1: and I'd pat and soothe her while Crumb ran circles
Speaker 1: through the living room. He'll grow out of it, I
Speaker 1: whispered to her. At Christmas, they'd put up with matching
Speaker 1: sweaters and shone off for friends. At a party on
Speaker 1: the twenty fourth, Marmee sat haughtily with a few people
Speaker 1: on the sofa while Crumb chased every thrown toy and
Speaker 1: begged for nibbles from the buffet. It was silly, maybe,
Speaker 1: but I kept thinking that it was Crumb's first Christmas,
Speaker 1: and I was excited for him. When we woke up
Speaker 1: the next day, I gave him a box of fresh
Speaker 1: baked treats and a new ball. Marmie had been gifted
Speaker 1: one of my good scarves that I've been trying to
Speaker 1: keep her from laying on. I'd given up plucking her
Speaker 1: ginger hairs off of it and instead laid it in
Speaker 1: her bed with a sprinkling of catnip, and spent the
Speaker 1: morning sipping my coffee and watching them enjoy themselves. That's
Speaker 1: family too, just taking joy in theirs. Crumb comes home.
Speaker 1: It had been about six months since Crumb had come home,
Speaker 1: and when he had he'd come to stay. He was
Speaker 1: a little brown dog with spiky, wiry hair and a
Speaker 1: lot of energy. I wasn't sure what to expect when
Speaker 1: I'd driven home with him that day last fall. I
Speaker 1: tucked him into his car seat beside me and piled
Speaker 1: some supplies into the footwell. A big bag of kibbl
Speaker 1: a new leash, an collar, his own food dishes, was sweater,
Speaker 1: and a new bed. He'd watched me load it all
Speaker 1: into the car, just thumping his tail against the seatbelt,
Speaker 1: and to the degree that a dog with a prominent
Speaker 1: snaggletooth and a funny mustache can. He smiled. He didn't
Speaker 1: seem to be anxious at all to be going somewhere
Speaker 1: with a stranger. Instead, he was excited and happy. He'd
Speaker 1: been waiting for me, and finally I had shown up.
Speaker 1: I kept one hand on his back as we drove
Speaker 1: to the house. He turned his head now and then
Speaker 1: to lick my wrist. We passed the park and I
Speaker 1: promised him we'd go for a walk there soon. When
Speaker 1: we pulled into the driveway, I unclipped him from his
Speaker 1: seat and scooted him over onto my lap. Now, crumb,
Speaker 1: I said in a low voice. When we go in,
Speaker 1: i'll introduce you to Marmalade. He looked up at me,
Speaker 1: his mouth falling open a bit and panting excitedly. Now
Speaker 1: she was here first, and she's the queen of the castle. Okay,
Speaker 1: he closed his mouth and tilted his head to one side.
Speaker 1: I know, I know, but that's how it is. You
Speaker 1: and I are just her subjects, got it. He spotted
Speaker 1: a falling leaf outside the window and jumped on to
Speaker 1: the console beside me. Well, we'll talk more later. I
Speaker 1: laughed as I scooped him up and carried him into
Speaker 1: the house. Marmalade, my orange kitty, now nearly two years
Speaker 1: old and apparently having heard my car in the drive,
Speaker 1: was sitting on the third step in the hall. Her
Speaker 1: eyes got big when she saw crumb in my arms,
Speaker 1: and she looked at me with shock. I carried him
Speaker 1: over and sat down on the step beside her, with
Speaker 1: him in my lap. We talked about it. I reminded
Speaker 1: her you agreed I should bring him home. She looked
Speaker 1: like she had no such memory, and slowly stretched out
Speaker 1: her nose toward him. He had been busy looking around
Speaker 1: the room, struggling to get out of my arms to explore,
Speaker 1: when he noticed her, and it was well, I don't
Speaker 1: know how else to say it. For him, at least,
Speaker 1: it was love at first sight. His ears spread out
Speaker 1: low and soft on his head, and his little whip
Speaker 1: of a tail started wagging so fast it seemed to
Speaker 1: blur in the air. He dipped down into what might
Speaker 1: have been a play bow, but didn't try to jump
Speaker 1: or joke. He just bowed down to her. Her face
Speaker 1: relaxed out of its previous shock, and she closed her
Speaker 1: eyes as she lifted a paw to her mouth and
Speaker 1: began to bathe. No big deal, she seemed to say,
Speaker 1: I have this effect on people. That first night, there
Speaker 1: was a slight dust up when it came to the
Speaker 1: sleeping arrangements. Crumb was so excited to be cuddled up
Speaker 1: in a nice, big bed with a human that he
Speaker 1: was jumping from pillow to pillow. Marmee was clearly ready
Speaker 1: for her beauty rest, and the pup was disrupting her serenity.
Speaker 1: One swift hiss from her and he dropped into the
Speaker 1: space beside my shoulder. He turned around twice and I
Speaker 1: pulled a blanket up over him. Marmee slept the pillow
Speaker 1: on my other side, and that became the arrangement to
Speaker 1: this day. I soon learned that though he was a
Speaker 1: few years old, there were plenty of things he'd never done.
Speaker 1: One was walking on a leash, and we'd spent the
Speaker 1: autumn months learning as a team how to make walks
Speaker 1: safe and enjoyable. Crumb turned out to be a quick learner.
Speaker 1: He was a smart pup and eager to please, so
Speaker 1: once he figured out that mom had treats in her
Speaker 1: pocket and that at least occasionally listening to her earned himself.
Speaker 1: He'd gotten the hang of a lot of things. He
Speaker 1: learned to ask to go out with a few yips
Speaker 1: at the back door, and he could sit and lay
Speaker 1: down and come when I called him. He still ran
Speaker 1: from the bath, and twice I had caught him breaking
Speaker 1: into the pantry to tear into a bag of treats.
Speaker 1: But even when he was a bad dog, he was
Speaker 1: a good boy. Marmalade had taught him to jump when
Speaker 1: the toast popped out of the toaster in the morning,
Speaker 1: and sometimes he even barked in excitement when it happened.
Speaker 1: In the winter, I'd put both their beds by the fire,
Speaker 1: and poor Crumb just wanted to lay in Marmalade's with
Speaker 1: her for a while. She'd stalk out whenever he had
Speaker 1: tempted a cuddle, but one especially cold day, when an
Speaker 1: icy wind was pushing through the tiny cracks in our
Speaker 1: old windows and doors, she'd tiptoed over into his bed
Speaker 1: and stretched out beside him. They had slept like that
Speaker 1: for a few hours, and when they woke, Marmie cleaned
Speaker 1: his face for him and purred while he wriggled beside her,
Speaker 1: and now that was how they napped most days. Sometimes
Speaker 1: when he chewed her cat toys or got two riled
Speaker 1: up with puppy energy chasing a ball down the hall,
Speaker 1: she'd meow in agitation. But I reminded her that once
Speaker 1: she'd been out in the snow, once she hadn't had
Speaker 1: a home or a family. Now that she did, she
Speaker 1: shouldn't be grudged Crumb his own, and in families, well,
Speaker 1: you have to have a little patience with one another.
Speaker 1: You have to give each other a room to be
Speaker 1: individuals and make allowances for each other's differences. Then I
Speaker 1: would scoop her up into my arms and carry her
Speaker 1: to our chair by the window, and i'd pat and
Speaker 1: soothe her while Crumb ran circles through the living room.
Speaker 1: He'll grow out of it, I whispered to her. At Christmas,
Speaker 1: they'd put up with our matching sweaters and shone off
Speaker 1: for friends. At a party on the twenty fourth, Marmee
Speaker 1: sat haughtily with a few people on the sofa while
Speaker 1: Crumb chased every thrown toy and begged for nibbles from
Speaker 1: the buffet. It was silly, maybe, but I kept thinking
Speaker 1: that it was Crumbs first Christmas. I was excited for him.
Speaker 1: When we woke up the next day, I gave him
Speaker 1: a box of fresh baked treats and a new ball.
Speaker 1: Marmee had been gifted one of my good scarves that
Speaker 1: I'd been trying to keep her from laying on. I'd
Speaker 1: given up plucking her ginger hairs off of it and
Speaker 1: instead laid it in her bed with a sprinkling of catnip.
Speaker 1: Spent the morning sipping my coffee and watching them enjoy themselves.
Speaker 1: That's family too, just taking joy in theirs sweet dreams