Summary

Roman Noodle, a dog, spends a heartwarming and eventful time with his owner, Meagan, during a period of isolation, enjoying activities like watching Harry Potter, participating in therapy groups, and playing puzzles with Meagan's boyfriend, Alex.

Abstract

Roman Noodle shares his experiences of a "Virus Vacation" with his owner, Meagan, who seems to be participating in therapy groups and enjoying her time despite the isolation. The days are filled with activities that Roman and Meagan partake in together, such as watching Harry Potter movies, playing with color blocks, and spending time outside. Roman takes his role as Meagan's protector seriously, even if it sometimes leads to frustration on her part. Meagan's boyfriend, Alex, visits and bonds with Roman over a Harry Potter puzzle, and the story ends with Roman looking forward to more quiet time with Meagan, hopeful that she will not return to work.

Opinions

Roman enjoys the quality time spent with Meagan, especially when they watch Harry Potter together.
Meagan seems to be benefiting from her therapy groups and is actively engaged in them.
Roman feels a strong need to protect Meagan, which sometimes leads to him barking at perceived threats.
Meagan's weekend planning does not explicitly include Roman, but he is content knowing they will spend time together regardless.
Roman is not fond of children and prefers to stay inside when Meagan is playing with the kids from upstairs.
He is apprehensive about staying at Granny's house but understands that Meagan needs time for herself, including dates with her boyfriend.
Roman is eager for Meagan to return from her night out so they can continue their weekend activities.
Despite the rain, Roman is patient and enjoys the indoor activities with Meagan, including helping her clean dishes.
Roman is happy when Meagan finishes the Harry Potter puzzle with Alex, signaling that they can spend time outside before bedtime.
He looks forward to "sleepy-time," a peaceful part of the day when he can rest without worry.
Roman secretly wishes that Meagan's period of isolation would continue so they can keep spending all their time together.

Virus Vacation with Mommy

Part 2

Mommy looks happier today. I think it’s because the sun is out. Mommy loves the sun. She woke up pretty early this morning and she started reading, and playing with her color block, and she was on the computer too. I just laid in our bed and relaxed. We played some music and she also put the TV on with her favorite movie — Harry Potter. I think I’m a Harry Potter nerd like Mommy. I like watching the witches and wizards cast the spells and I really like the big hairy guy that helps Harry. Harry Potter was on all day! Mommy kept it on in the background while we did other stuff.

When Mommy had to get ready for her groups, she set up her computer outside and she put on her sunglasses and looked like she was having such a good day. I wanted to be outside with her, because she’s my Mommy and I love her, so I stood at the door and told her that I wanted to sit with her until she listened to me.

Finally, she brought me outside in the afternoon and let me sit on her lap while she did her other groups. It was so much fun! I got to look at all the stuff outside and take a nap on Mommy’s lap and just snuggle with her. It felt good because I knew that I was helping Mommy feel better and she kissed me a lot and I knew she loved me so much in that moment.

It sounded like the groups were going much better today than yesterday. Mommy was talking with the other people and she was asking questions and taking notes. I think she learns a lot in her groups. She had this one paper that she said was for weekend planning, because today is Friday and she needs to know what she is going to do without her groups on Saturday and Sunday.

I knew that Mommy and I would spend tons of time together this weekend, so I don’t know why I wasn’t on her weekend plan sheet. I guess it’s because she doesn’t need to plan our time together — she knows that whatever she does this weekend, I’ll be by her side. We’re going to watch TV and I’ll try to be quiet while Mommy tutors both days. I’ll protect her from all the noise upstairs when she’s tutoring by yelling at the kids to be quiet. But, sometimes that makes Mommy frustrated because she says I’m making too much noise. I wish she understood what I was trying to do and that I just want to help her stay safe.

I spent so much time with Mommy outside today. But I guess Mommy wanted to do some stuff by herself later in the day, so she went outside with the kids from upstairs and played games with them, while I stayed inside. I was trying to tell her I wanted to come out too, and I was kind of sad that I was stuck inside, but I don’t really like kids anyway so it was probably for the best.

She was out there for a while playing and then she came back inside and said it was time to make dinner. We ate together and it was nice. Mommy took me out to go potty after I was done eating and I got to see the kids outside for a minute. They’re pretty scary though, so I’m glad we went the other way.

I knew that Mommy wanted to go out of the apartment tonight, so I wasn’t surprised when she told me I was sleeping over Granny and Hedwig’s house. I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but Mommy deserves to have some fun without me sometimes. She was seeing her new boyfriend.

So now I’m at Granny’s house and I’m relaxing on the couch with Grandpa and Hedwig and I’m hoping that Mommy’s having a good night with her boyfriend and I can’t wait for her to pick me up in the morning so we can start our fun weekend tomorrow.

Day 10

Mommy woke up early this morning, but she didn’t want to take me outside right away. I think it’s because it was raining outside and she kept checking her phone to see when the rain would stop. She kept saying, “Soon, Roman. Soon we’ll go out.”

I didn’t mind because I know Mommy’s not really supposed to be walking around outside too much because she gets dizzy. But I did crave the warm sunshine beating on my fur. I also really wanted to chase a squirrel or a cat, but Mommy doesn’t like it when I do that. She tells me I’m being a bad boy and that I’m not ferocious, but if she knew how much the other dogs at the shelter teased me before I found my new home, she would understand that I need to stand up for myself. And, I need to protect Mommy. I saw some mean dogs and cats at the shelter and now that I have my Mommy to take care of me, I never want to lose her. Sometimes it feels like a lose-lose situation. If I don’t bark and growl, I can’t protect Mommy, but if I bark and growl too much, Mommy gets frustrated.

So anyway, we didn’t go outside right away. But Mommy gave me a good breakfast and then after she ate her breakfast, she let me lick the empty bowl. I love when I get to lick the bowls and plates for Mommy. I’m a great cleaner. I’m helping because I make it easier for Mommy to clean the dishes so she can use them again the next day.

I think Mommy is going to snuggle with me now. She said Harry Potter is on TV again. I love when we watch Harry Potter because Mommy lays still and she doesn’t move so I can nap on her lap. I’ll check in again later!

Tonight, Mommy’s boyfriend came over again. Mommy was playing with a colorful block for a long time when her boyfriend first got here, and he sat at the counter eating chips. I stayed by him, hoping he’d drop a couple of chips for me to snack on, but he kept them all for himself.

When Mommy finally put down the block, she came over to the counter where they were working on the Harry Potter puzzle. They started it the other night but they didn’t finish it. There were a ton of pieces missing. It didn’t really look like Harry Potter right now, but Mommy and her boyfriend were determined to put that thing together.

Mommy stood in the kitchen on one side of the counter, and her boyfriend sat on the stool on the other side, and they tirelessly worked on that puzzle for over an hour. I fell asleep, to be honest. But when I woke up, the whole picture was put together. It was Harry and Ron and Hermione and Dumbledore and Hagrid and Griphook — I didn’t know who all of them were but Mommy said them out loud to me as she tried to show me the finished product.

I was happy that Mommy finished the puzzle because that meant now we could go outside before bedtime. I ran in circles to tell Mommy that it was time for her boyfriend to leave and for us to spend quality Meagan-Roman time together.

I think she got the hint. Mommy started yawning — she was definitely exhausted.

“Alex,” Mommy mumbled. “I think I need to go to bed in a minute.”

Mommy’s boyfriend, Alex, got up from his comfy seat on the couch and said that he was tired too and he was going to head home. Mommy put my leash on and took the flashlight and put on her coat and we walked Alex to his car and then Mommy took me a little farther to go potty.

Then I heard the magic words — “It’s sleepy-time Roman!”

I love sleepy-time. Sleepy-time is one of my favorite parts of the day because everything is quiet and peaceful and I don’t need to worry about protecting us against anything bad.

So now I’m going to go sleepy-time. This Virus Vacation is getting fun because Mommy gets to do all different things but all the time, she’s in the apartment with me! I know Mommy wants to go back to work, but is it bad that I really hope she never goes back?