At nighttime, we felt the penguins come in. They padded down the hallway and filled all our dreams. Too many people lived in our tiny apartment: me, my husband, and our twin little boys. My husband was tall and narrow like always. He curled around the sleeping boys at night, who were plump as loaves of bread. The penguins were short and squat too. My husband had fantasies about lying on the floor with a bee-bee gun, waiting for them to slip in the cat door.

The penguins entered our apartment this way night after night. They barked and molted, mated and fought. They didn’t care when we watched them, standing shocked in our robes.

Did anyone else have nighttime penguins? We got a babysitter and went to a town meeting to find out.

~ Jen Gann @ Annalemma (art by Shen Plum)

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