''-I'm sorry, but I have bad news, said the young vet.
It's not looking good for Lovecraft(our cat). She
has an incurable tumor on her bladder and she is too
old and too frail to be able to re-coup from surgery.
The best thing for her is to let her go.''
My son and I looked at each other.
How?
How do you let go of someone you have
loved and lived with for 15 years?
-We have a room for you to spend some time in
with Lovecraft and decide what you want to do,
said the kind vet and lead us to the special room.
As we entered the room the vet returned with
Lovecraft wrapped in a towel and handed her to my son.
After much crying and deciding what to do,
we said goodbye to our very beloved Lovecraft.
My son and I are both cat people.
We both prefer cats to dogs for a number
of different reasons.
In my view cats are entertaining, mysterious,
smart, emotionally sensitive and kinda the ''artists''
of the animal kind.
One of my cats actually used to ''play'' the
piano. Well, not so much play more like ''walk''
the piano. Linus, the cat, used to start playing
the piano if he was bored, wanted food or just
wanted to annoy me.
(If you too love cats, please go to youtube and check
out Catcerto.)
I digress.
Going through this sadness suddenly made me
remember something that happened a long
time ago that involved a Golden Retriever.
But before I tell you that story I have to tell
you a bit about me.
I'm an impulsive person, can't stand bullies or mean people,
can't stand seeing animals being hurt, can't stand
seeing people being hurt, can't ignore people or animals
who needs help, etc. etc. I rush in where fools don't
dare to tread and throw myself in the middle of
a fight even though I know I'm gonna get clobbered.
So, ....... driving down the highway to visit my folks
suddenly a Golden Retriever runs out in front of
the car in front of me.
The dog gets hit and flies threw the air and lands
on the grassy strip in between the lanes.
I instantly veer off the highway and slam on the brakes.
I get out of the car and desperately tries
to get to the dog.
The dog is sitting on the grass ....... crying!
Crying, making a sound like I've never heard before.
I can still hear it even today. The dog is crying, I am
crying but still not able to cross the road.
Finally I just scream at the top of my lungs, hold up
my right hand as to say STOP! and run across
the road like a maniac.
As soon as I get close enough to the dog I start to
pat him(she?) on the head and say sshhhhh, sshhhhh.
I gently hug the dog and then notice that there is blood
streaming from the dog's eyes. With tears streaming
down my own eyes I start to just yell : STOP!! Somebody
just STOP and help us. Nobody stops.
This happened before there were mobile phones but
I knew that I had to get to a phone and call a vet as
soon as possible.
As luck would have it there was a public phone
kiosk across the highway. However, I didn't dare to leave
the dog incase he should try to run across the road
and then potentially be hit again.
But, I had to call for a vet.
Somehow I managed to coax the dog to lie down
and as soon as he seemed calm, I bolted for
the phone kiosk.
What happened next is a blur but I got hold
of a vet who said that he would come pronto.
I ran back to the dog as soon as I had hang up
the phone and found him still where I had left him.
An hour and a half later the vet showed up.
He lifted the dog of the ground and then gently carried
it to his van.
-Thanks, he said and handed me a business card.
And just like that they were gone.
The next day I called to find out if the dog had
survived, which he had and was re-cooperating
well indeed.
By coincidence I bumped into a friend years
later who used to work at the vet clinic where the Golden
Retriever had been looked after so I asked if
she new what had happened to the Golden Retriever.
-The dog, she said, stayed with them until he was
fit and well again.
Everybody at the vet clinic loved him and
since nobody came looking for him,
one day, one of the volunteers just took him
home with him.
The End.
Every word of that story is true.
Amazing, methinks.
(Although, the memory of that dog flying
through the air, landing in the middle of the
highway and sitting there crying blood tears
is forever etched into my corneas.)
''The greatness of a nation can be judged by the
way it treats its animals.''
(Mahatma Gandhi)
about the image: sketch on paper some editing
in Elements.
(I have never tried to draw a dog before.
Hope you like it.)
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