Maddie and Jack, being mature and responsible adults, had spent many years learning the art of time management. This allowed them to schedule each day for the optimal amount of sleep, food, inventing, ghost hunting, checking on the kids and doing household chores. But, every now and then they came up with an idea for a game-changing piece of ghost hunting machinery. At such times they couldn't help but work night and day until the idea had become reality. At such times things like chores, hygiene, and nutrition were often forgotten. Even sleep was far from their minds.

Jack was the first to succumb to the multiple all-nighters. He started with a few slow blinks, his eyes staying closed just a bit longer each time. His head would nod and his hands slowly came to rest on the table, the tools slipping from his grip. Yawning he leaned heavily against the nearest wall.

"Maddie," he mumbled, "wake me in an hour. I just need to rest my eyes for a bit." Sliding down the wall he began to snore.

Maddie put down her tools and pulled a blanket from under the cabinets. She threw it over Jack's shoulders and then stared for a few moments, her own eyes dark from lack of sleep. It wouldn't hurt to rest for just a bit.

Nestling against her husband she rearranged the blanket so it covered both of them and let herself drift off. They'd be more productive once they had gotten some shut-eye.

…

A bright yellow tennis ball came bouncing down the basement stairs. Shortly after Cujo came bounding after it. Trapping it between his paws he prepared to gnaw on the rubber and felt when something snorted and rumbled from the far end of the lab. Cujo's ears perked up and he abandoned the ball to investigate this strange noise.

The first clue he found was a boot sticking out from around one of the tables. He gave it a sniff before circling around. He found two of the humans who lived in his house. They seemed to have wrapped themselves in a thick sheet and were proceeding to make the strangest noises he had ever heard.

Cujo yipped at them but got no reaction. Making his way over their splayed legs he managed to find a hand and give it a lick. He only did that once since it tasted like rubber and not the good kind of rubber his toys were made of. There was still no reaction.

Part of the blanket had pooled onto the floor. It felt soft under his paws, especially compared to the cold of the lab floor.

Cujo put all four of his paws on the fabric and began turning in a circle. Once he found the best position he settled down and leaned into the sleeping human. It was warm.

…

Maddie's eyes slowly fluttered open. She felt like some of her energy had returned and briefly wondered whether it had been only a few minutes or a few hours. She shifted her arm to check her watch but found there was something heavy preventing her from moving it.

Her eyes shot open and she tilted her head to get a better look.

Green fur entered her field of vision and she felt her chest tighten. She tried to move her other arm but found it was pinned between her and her husband. The blanket had also wound tightly around her making it difficult to move. Maddie tried to weigh her options. If she moved quickly enough maybe she could get free and grab her ecto-gun before the ghost beast attacked, but moving so suddenly might also increase the aggression of the specter and even if she had time to get free Jack was still asleep. She'd have to wake him first without alerting the ghost.

As these thoughts rushed through her head the ghost pup shifted, rising slightly to its feet.

Maddie stiffened she still didn't have a good plan.

Cujo adjusted himself and settled back down with a yawn, leaning ever closer into Maddie's side.

Maddie was frozen. A minute passed, then another. The pup's ears twitched but otherwise, by all accounts, he seemed to be sleeping just as deeply as Jack.

Maddie felt her panic begin to ease. This specter, this collection of postcanine consciousness, wasn't actually threatening her or her husband. It was...just taking a nap.

Maddie's fear was slowly replaced by confusion. Ghosts didn't nap. They didn't need sleep. So, why would one of them decide to sleep next to her? After observing the ghost dog she had determined its intelligence was no more than a living dog's, which meant it was incapable of scheming or laying traps. There was always a chance this was all an act but the cameras she had placed around the house showed that the pup acted that way all the time, even when there was no one else around. If it wasn't capable of scheming then it could only act on instinct and desire and so far all its desires included playing and begging for treats.

Maybe...just...maybe...it really was just ...a dog.