it. Because if Daddy didn’t see him soon, Grampa might not get to see Daddy again.”
“Why not?”
“Because Grampa is getting old, and when you get old, you can be sick and not get well again. And if you can’t get well again, then God lets you go to sleep and you can’t see people any more.”
“Don’t you ever wake up again?”
“You wake up right away, in heaven, but people on earth can’t see you any more, and you can’t see them.”
“Oh.”
“Eat,” their mother whispered, making a big, nodding mouth and chewing vigorously on air. They ate.
“Mama,” Rufus said, “when Oliver went to sleep did he wake up in heaven too?”
“I don’t know. I imagine he woke up in a part of heaven God keeps specially for cats.”
“Did the rabbits wake up?”
“I’m sure they did if Oliver did.”
“All bloody like they were?”
“No, Rufus, that was only their poor little bodies. God wouldn’t let them wake up all hurt and bloody, poor things.”
“Why did God let the dogs get in?”
“We don’t know, Rufus, but it must be a part of His plan we will understand someday.”
“What good would it do Him?”
“Children, don’t dawdle. It’s almost school time.”
“What good would it do Him, Mama, to let the dogs in?”
“I don’t know, but someday we’ll understand, Rufus, if we’re very patient. We mustn’t trouble ourselves with these things we can’t understand. We just have to be sure that God knows best.”
“I bet they sneaked in when He wasn’t looking,” Rufus
