Fear

There’s no fear like losing your dog. Second to that is seeing someone else lose their dog.

As I turned off Santa Fe on my drive home from work today, around the corner comes a dog that I swear could have been Spike.  He was running as dogs run and mostly sticking to the sidewalk.  Not too far behind him was a boy.  What struck me most was I could clearly see his face.  Fear has big eyes, and his certainly were huge.  No tears, just eyes that could swallow one whole. The dog was loose and running towards one of the busiest streets with cars traveling over the 55 MPH speed limit.

I stopped my car right there, turned on my hazard lights, and looked back through my rear view mirror.  I could see the dog jump up on to the under-bridge embankment.  A horn honked (that bastard).  The boy darted past the dog who had slowed by now.  He lunged for the dog and missed.  He lunged again as the dog turned back towards safety.  I was opening my door to get out and as I was looking over my shoulder, I see that the dog had been caught.  Snagged by whatever means necessary.  I’m certain the dog had a collar, but no leash. I’m also certain that the boy had as tight of grip on that dogs neck as he had ever had.  He pulls the dog off the ledge and hunched over begins walking away from the busy road.

I stay in my car, close the door, but still watch out the rear view mirror.  Another horn honks. (another bastard).  Even at a distance, I could see the boys eyes were no longer dry.  Fear replaced with tears.

The boy passes by, we exchange nods.  He and the dog were safe…