“Conch…shoo! Conch….shoo! Conch…shoo!”

“Gary, I can hardly breathe under here.”

“Me either Lenny, but it is almost time.” As the two memory foam pillows are about to give up on any hopes of being giant full sized head cushions ever again, the blaring sound of the alarm goes off. The humans grunt as they slump off the bed and get ready for work. “Phew”, exclaimed Gary with a sigh of relief. “I thought they’d never get up.”

“Ech! I’ve got drool all over me!” cried Lenny. “I sure hope they wash our clothes today!” The two pillows begin to reshape into the full voluptuous head rests they once were before the humans laid to rest.

“Lenny, we have a problem.”

“You’ve got that right Gary! I’ve got human slobber in the most uncomfortable places.”

Gary gives his partner a displeased look. “Stop thinking about yourself for a change! It’s the incessant and suffocating snoring that’s the problem!”

Lenny felt hurt that his best friend yelled at him, but he knew Gary was right. “Well, what are we gonna do about it?”

The two memory pads sit in silence for what seems like forever, plotting the solution to their problem when suddenly Gary shrieks, “I’ve got it!”

Startled, Lenny jumps and glares at Gary. “Whoa! You scared me!”

“Quiet!” Gary says excitedly. “Listen up.” Lenny listens carefully as his devious friend explains his intricate plan to thwart the snoring problem. Lenny nods here and there to portray understanding, but really, he was very very confused. “Got it?” Gary asks.

“I think so.” Lenny states nervously.

 “Great. The plan starts…” As Gary was about to give more details about the plan, the two pillows were interrupted by an early arrival by the humans. Something wasn’t right.

“Gary, do you see what I see?”

Yes, Lenny. I see.” In the arms of the humans were two brand new duck down pillows.

“These should help with my snoring” said one human to the other.

“I hope so! Your snoring probably wakes up the whole neighborhood” said the other human.

“Lenny, our problem has been solved! Not only will the snoring go away, but now your human won’t drool on you anymore!”

“Does this mean the plan is off Gary?”

“Yes, the plan is off!” Right as Gary and Lenny were about to celebrate, the humans plop the new duck down pillows directly on top of them and leave.

“Bonjour!’ said the feathery pillow placed on Gary.

“Bon who?” asked Gary.

“Bless you.” said Lenny.

The new pillow laughs, “Ha ha! I said bonjour! It means hello!” Gary and Lenny exchange looks and then hesitantly say hello back. “Je m’appelle Edouard. This is my friend Cecilia.” said Gary’s new pillow top.

Cecilia shakes and giggles making Lenny dizzy. Through her giggling, she manages to ask, “What are your names?”

Lenny is the first to speak up. “Uh, my name is Lenny and this is my best friend Gary.” Gary gives Lenny a sideways look. He was about to say something, but Edouard and Cecilia started to speak to each other in an unfamiliar language. The two strange pillows continued to do this for quite some time until eventually, day turns into night, the humans come back into the room, and the new duck down pillows quiet for the first time since meeting their memory foam counterparts.

“Finally,” Gary exhaled. “Some peace and quiet.”

“Our new friends sure do talk a lot” observed Lenny as he tried to get comfortable under his new acquaintance. Gary and Lenny begin to relax and appreciate the silence, and the humans lay down to rest for the night. “Ouch!” shouted Lenny. “Something is poking me!”

“Yeah, me too! What is that? “The two soft cushions look around to find what is poking them. “It’s Edouard and Cecilia!” Gary said angrily. “Their insides are poking us through their shirts!”

Lenny looks, and sees what Gary had been talking about. The pointy parts of the duck down seemed to be poking through. He looks at Gary and starts to sob. “Not fair!” Lenny cries. “They talk funny, they are loud, they never stop talking, and now, they are hurting us!” Gary sympathizes with his friend. He tries to make Lenny feel better by pointing out that the snoring has stopped, and he’s no longer getting slobbered on. “I don’t care!” Lenny shouts. “I would rather be drooled on than have new friends I don’t like. I only want you to be my friend and I want our humans to drool and snore on us!”

Gary nods and agrees. “Yeah, I would rather hear the human snoring than hear Edouard and Cecilia talk all day.” After a few minutes of silence, Lenny cries himself to sleep and Gary tosses and turns the whole night.

The next morning, the birds are chirping, and the sun lights a path onto Lenny and Gary. They awake to find the humans and the new pillows gone.

“Was it a dream, Gary?”

Gary looks around puzzled. “I. I. I don’t know, Lenny. I’m not sure.” As Gary and Lenny try to understand what had happened to everyone, the door opens and the humans walk in.

“I am so glad we returned those pillows, honey.” said one human to the other.

“Me too! They were poking me all night! I would rather listen to your snoring than get poked by pillows all night.” said the other human. The humans grabbed their things for the day leaving the two memory foam pillows all alone.

“Woohoo! Finally, back to normal!” Gary shrieked as he leapt for joy.

“Yippee!” shouted Lenny.

“I think we learned a valuable lesson here Lenny.”

“Yep,” said Lenny joyously. “You don’t know what you got ‘till it’s gone.”