Filed into the Book of Notable Truths

(Under “Local Phenomena: Emotional Animals & Other Signs”)

“The Ear-Scratch Heresy”

— When the gift of comfort is so profound, it feels like a crime.

It is hereby recorded and accepted in the communal memory of Belle Perdue that:

When a person places a single finger inside a creature’s ear —
just to the tender place,
with the faintest scrape of a fingernail
like a whispered “you are known”
— something shifts.

Most animals respond with:

• Immediate surrender of the neck
• A gravity-assisted lean
• And a facial expression best translated as
  “Yes, this is the correct world and I am its chosen child.”

However.

There are exceptions.

In rare and notable cases —
especially among dogs of athletic suspicion
with strong moral character and no emotional skill set —

A simple, loving scritch
may cause:

• Existential overwhelm
• The need to retreat beneath a table
• Unblinking eye contact laden with unanswered questions
• And the sudden realization that they have feelings now

This is known in Belle Perdue as:

The Ear-Scratch Heresy:
The moment when comfort is received so deeply
that the recipient briefly questions
whether a boundary — spiritual, emotional, or municipal —
has been crossed.

This is not a crisis.

It is a threshold moment.

The creature will return when ready,
having sorted its soul
like laundry.

Miss Lettie, as always, has the final word:

“Baby, intimacy will send the toughest among us under the furniture.
Let ‘em take their time.
They’ll come back when they’ve figured out where to put the softness you handed ‘em.”