Otaku Died Yesterday

This Picture was taken a few hours before Otaku died. (Bear is the dark one above. Otaku is in the middle on his back. Pip is lower left.)

When I went into the office to check on Otaku yesterday evening, he was stretched out of his back, asleep. Pip and Bear were both curled around him almost protectively. It was very sweet.
I wondered if Otaku was just asleep or if he had died. I called Andrew to see Pip and Bear before I woke them up. Andrew could tell just by looking at him; Otaku was dead. His body was cold and stiff. Pip and Bear were trying to keep him warm, but his body was cold, all but one little spot where they had managed to keep it warm. Our old friend had slipped away in his sleep. Andrew wrapped Otaku in a little towel  and laid him in a shoe box. Then he added a soft peace of the fleecy blanket material that Otaku always loved to chew along with a sponge and a washcloth (Otaku loved to steel sponges and wash clothes chew them. We used to find stashes of them.). I stood by blubbering, all tears and snot. Andrew buried the box in the back yard next to the snow ball bush.