Meet Biscuit and Artemis

Meet my good friends. On the left is Biscuit. On the right is his sister, Artemis. They aren't mine, but we understand each other as if we were family. They are visiting me for a couple days as they do fairly often. Biscuit is 14 years old and knows absolutely everything, including where we're going on our walks. He decides. He smirks at me when I put him on the lead, as if to remind me that I am really not as in charge as I like to think. He can eat anything--his stomach is indestructible. He has massive lumps everywhere but is undaunted by his age, shape, or circumstances. He always pulls himself up for the next outing. I call him Old Man.

His much younger sidekick is Arty. She makes very ferocious sounds and clears the roadways when they see us coming. The truth is that she is a big weeny and can be coerced into anything. Artemis utterly adores Biscuit and tends to him wherever we are. She waits and waits and waits while he takes way too long to sniff something invisible. She sleeps near him and goes where he goes. He piddles, she piddles. Then he piddles again just to maintain his standing. She pretends she's self-sufficient but I know the truth. We both know that Biscuit will be moving on someday soon. Her world will never be the same without him but maybe that's proof of its preciousness.