I wake up and hear someone clambering to open my door handle. Breathing hard, a slim figure enters my room, invading my space. Then I am attacked and my reality becomes intense and unpredictable. I come to a realization: I live with a psycho.

You might be wondering, “Why would my family welcome such a menace into our home?”  It all started about three years ago. After the loss of one of our family members, we decided there was a hole to fill. That’s when we met her. Energetic and sweet, we thought she would be a perfect addition to our family. How could we have been so wrong?

At first, everything seemed like it was going to be rosy. That was until we brought our newest family member home. The first thing she did was go after my adorable dog Bandit. We were hopeful that things would become better between them, but the situation only escalated. She bullies Bandit—a single glare can make him cower away to his bed. Normally they get along well, but when they don’t…… things get ugly. Last year, she even bit Bandit. Yes, bit him. His wound got infected and he got an abscess. Poor Bandit does his best not to anger her for fear of another attack.

But she doesn’t just scare him, she scares me too, so she hardly ever comes inside. She entertains herself throughout the day, tormenting neighbors, scaring our chickens, running odd errands, and even digging holes in our backyard. When I come home from school she stands on our back patio and stares at me through our sliding glass door. I want to know what she thinks about. Does she just want a snack? Isn’t she hot out there?  Is she plotting my death?

But the thing that scares me most is her arrogance. She is completely on her own program, and will fight with anyone who defies her regime. Although I am afraid of her, she is afraid of nothing. I try to convince myself that I am smarter, stronger, and kinder, but none of that matters when it comes to her, she thinks she rules us all.

In all honesty, would I get rid of my dog because she’s a troublemaker? No. As much as I don’t want to admit this, I do love Nebula deep, deep, deep, down somewhere. Nebula (yes she is named after the Marvel character) is a rescue and I know she acts the way she does because someone didn’t show her the love she deserves. As much as I dislike her, I couldn’t imagine not having my crazy dog barking at people from on top of my back wall or howling at the firetruck. She’s brought our family some joy, a lot of pain (for Bandit), some property damage, and a lot of weird stories. But we wouldn’t have it any other way, except for my dad.