The Dog

Part 1

It was a dark and stormy night... What a stupid way to start a story. Especially since this story takes place on a bright and overcast day. I had just finished up at my work when I got the call.

"Sindy! I need help. I just hit a dog and it hurt pretty bad!

My face contorts in confusion and disbelief

"What do you mean where are you?

I hear her breath on the other end staggered and catching.

"I need you to calm down and tell me where you are! Do you have your inhaler on you?"

*Gasp* *Gasp* "yes"

"Good,,,, now tell me where you're at I'll come and meet you"

She tells me she is on 12th and Beverly, just about an 8-minute drive from where I was. I think that it's good that she called me now when I was at lunch and not when I was at work. While getting in my car putting my leftover sandwich on the passenger seat I call the doctor at the clinic, repeating what limited information Sindy had told me

I am just about to tell Dr Gene what I'm seeing from the dog, but as I turn the corner all I see is Sindys shocked face turned towards the left with her hands holding her head as though it were to fly off at any second.

"Hold on, I don't see the dog, let me talk to Sindy for a sec...'

I pull up the car so that I am interrupting her sight line. I also look into the direction she is staring but see nothing but some maple trees and the backend of some neighborhood chain-link fences.

"Hey, what's up, where's the dog?"

Her sightline seems unconcerned that my car is now directly in front of her. But it seems her sightline is the least of her worries as not only does her head look like it's going to blow away, but her eyes as well with the amount of intensity she is looking at. Good god what is happening? Where is the dog?

"Hey.... Sindy? Where's the dog? I thought you said it was really bad?

Her face remained unmoving.

"Sindy?..... What happened? You're starting to scare me....."

"Sindy!"

"I don't know what happened, it just ran off..." her voice was more akin to a whisper. She seemed to almost be afraid of what she had seen.

"Well that's okay, we can look for it a bit now and call the animal shelter and let them know there is an injured dog in the area and to be on the lookout."

"No!"

"Sindy what do you mean i thought you said it was really bad and that....."

"I said no! Whatever that was, it can fend for itself. But I am not! Going after it."

"Alright.... Do you want to take my car since yours.... Yours looks pretty bad..."

Her head nods but doesn't take its sight off of the direction I can already assume the dog ran off. It seems ridiculous that we can't just go after this dog now. It can't have gone far with how shocked she seemed on the phone. But then again maybe if I just take her back to work, she'll come down from whatever shock this is and we can figure out what happened.

The car gently vibrates beneath us as I pull into my usual parking spot. Not that it can even be called a spot as our entire parking lot consists of gravel and dirt. My phone is playing the latest pop songs. I don't know why I listen to this? Why does anybody listen to music really? I think about how when a person is presented with a song enough times that person actually starts out like that song. Like a drug. My useless thoughts are interrupted when Sindy gently reaches out her hand and turns down the music.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted back there. Just if you saw what had happened you wouldn't have wanted to stick around there either... we can call the animal shelter but please.... Let's not go looking for it and please promise me you won't go looking for it either. I know how determined you get sometimes, and I am asking this one time for you to trust me. Let the animal shelter handle it..."

Her eyes never meet mine until the very end when she asks me to stay out of it. I laugh in my head at how well she knows me. I guess that's what you get when you work full time with someone for three years at the same veterinary clinic.

"Alright.... I promise. Do you want to make the call then or do you want me to?"

I can see that she is appeased, at least for now, about my answer. "You please"

"Alright, do you want to stay here while I head inside? I'm sure Dr Gene is a bit worried. I think I accidentally hung up on him before."