It
happens every 6 months…either it’s a time you look forward to or it's a curse
from Hades…
It
started out as a typical day, girls inside, boys outside and then it was time to change,
boys inside, girls outside, sounds so simple right…wrong. So here I am, I have Doc on an orange leash
and I am transferring him to a sizeable kennel so he will be happy. We need to stop right there, Doc is NEVER
happy when he is in, and a romantic female dog is outside, NEVER. At any rate, he bolted from my grasp during a
weak moment and off he ran toward the girls who were playing thirty feet away
from us dragging a bright orange leash behind him. Gabby is leading the way and Doc is
following…It looked like an orange lightning bolt traveling down the driveway, giggling all the way…I just know it…
Gabby…come here…G A B B Y come here.... down the
driveway they ran, my mind raced, what to do…what to do… my 18 year old mind
said “Run” as I started running. The
lovebirds would run about 100 feet and get ahead and stop and prance and play
and Gabby would act real interested…OMG…”NO” I yelled and off they went in
another direction, Gabby and the orange lightning bolt right behind, both
turning their head and looking at me and again, I knew they were giggling and
saying, “how long do you think he can run like that” to each other.
Well
this old man kept up, for at least 10 seconds. Through the woods I could see the orange
lightning bolt slicing through the trees.
We were about 6 acres away, I was ninety six years old and it
sounded like I was a steam engine puffing so much. I was out of breath, weak legged, angry,
annoyed and all the words that went with it and I knew I was going to die. I can just see it now…”Retired Detective died
from unknown reasons” in the local paper and Elaine would sell the new pups all
the while wondering what I was doing on the other side of the big lake by
myself, but that was not going to happen…I pulled up my sock on my shoeless
right foot, because my shoe was in the woods somewhere on the path and was off again
to catch the orange lightning bolt that was still running and stopping for a
little kiss. As I ran, I really did
wonder what the neighbors thought of the shoeless wild man running madly
through the woods screaming at nothing but a dog with an orange leash. Little did they know the real story.
After
what seemed like 4 days we had worked our way all over the farm and ended up back
at the house. In my mind, I was grateful
that if I did die, I would be home and they could find me.
I
was done…No more was left, It is finished…I went in the walkout door and walked
up the step to the first floor, one shoe on, one off, reached on top of the cabinet
and pulled it out. I was lucky, I always
saw Gabby running and the orange lightning bolt right in-front, but it was over,
only several steps were left in my legs.
I walked on the porch and pointed it in the air, toward the sun and “let
it go” The sound of thunder roared from its mouth, belching a 2 foot stream of
fire. The S&W 357 said its
peace. Not a sound was heard anywhere,
nor did the wind even blow, but what I did hear, was the sound of a dog running
and as it got closer, the lightning bolt ran to the kennel and went in…Luckily, Doc is a
little apprehensive about gunshots…and as I turned the latch shut, I patted him on
the head and took off his orange lightning bolt, nothing more to say, just
Mother Nature at work…
Epilog…
I
did find my shoe and then my sock and when a neighbor asked if I knew anything
about a “wild” man, I just snickered and asked…”Where did you hear that?”
In
Sixty Three days, we'll know for sure…
Moral
of the Story
No
matter where you start, you may return back to the same place if you don't change your ways… Ken
