These two have helped me on every working day for the past twenty years. Fish is heavy and solid (the stuffing is sawdust, I think). Dragon is lightweight and supple. I inherited them from some previous librarian who left them in a desk drawer, abandoned and forgotten, long before I came upon the scene.
Teamwork is their motto. Fish firmly supports the cover while Dragon gently restrains the pages.
With their help I can study a text and transcribe what I find there – while both hands remain free for the keyboard. (It is possible that I am the youngest person in the United States who was actually taught Touch Typing in high school (and who actually learned it) and who still continues to benefit from this archaic technique involving accuracy, speed, and custody of the eyes.)
Fish on window ledge for close-up of crocheted ventral fins and embroidered tail.
Over the years Dragon has lost many spines. The ones along the tail and neck remain, but those that used to grow in beauty all along the backbone have got knocked off one by one. And there is no getting around the fact that I am the individual who did the knocking, with many thousands of careless grabs.