I'll Be Doggone

Last night I had a dream that my mother lost the dog, and I just got so angry that I started yelling at her. It was weird, apropos of nothing, and I figured just a symptom of my loneliness -- I really do wish I had a dog.

Tonight mom calls and tells me that last night, while she took the dogs out, Zoe suddenly disappeared. She couldn't find her, the dog wasn't responding to being called (which is not a surprise). So eventually my mom went to bed. A train passed by sometime during the night and honked its horn, which is very rare, and my mom became convinced that Zoe had been struck by the train. So, after a sleepless night, my mom climbed the embankment to see if Zoe was actually up there, but instead she only saw six deer grazing in the forest.

At the same time, my father drove around the neighborhood, calling for the dog. No luck there, either.

When they came home, they found her at the back door, waiting to be let in.


I couldn't bring myself to get mad or lecture my mother; she just sounded so exhausted.