Now I lay me down to sleep,
I ask my dog me safe to keep,
He lies beside my bed each night,
To keep me safe from any fright,
And when at night I hear a sound,
I reach my hand down to my hound.

And so that night I laid my head,
Weary, upon my pillowed bed,
And when I heard a noise so late,
And heart began to palpitate,
I stretched my hand to where he slept,
He licked it from beneath the bed.

That morning dawned and up I leapt,
But what had happened as I'd slept?
Possessions gone - the room was bare,
And faithful dog not anywhere!
Shell-shocked, stunned, a little bleary,
To the bathroom I went, teary.

There stretched out inside the tub,
Was darling doggy, drenched in blood,
His throat was slit, he'd been long dead,
So what had licked from 'neath my bed?
Upon the mirror, writ in red, a clue:
"Humans can lick fingers too".