The dogs murdered a rat last night on their final walk of the night. It was vicious and intense and I did everything to stop it but couldn’t. They both had the rat in their mouths at different times, I picked them up and was screaming “drop it”...

...and the other dog would grab it, and shake it. The poor rat, they broke its neck I think. My heart was beating out of my chest. It’s been a while since I’ve witnessed something so primal. How life can turn on a dime.

Called the vet. Dogs are up to date on shots so they should be okay. It was Shabbat so I said the Shabbat prayer over the rat — I couldn’t remember the mourners prayer in the moment. I washed the ground and put the rat into a Gucci shoebox.

As we got in bed, I said to Sam, “Poor Marvin and his family. Don’t you think Marvin’s family is upset he didn’t come home? He went out from their rat nest and never came home. Or Sally. Maybe it was Sally the rat.” I think my husband thinks I’m a different kind of person.