Kinda sets the scene, don't it? Just add to that fog, that 'cause of the big thunderstorms we've had in the last few days, there's standin' water all over our yard. So, you can just imagine how pleased mom was when Lexie an' I insisted to go out about 11:30pm. As soon as she opened the backdoor, we zoomed out an' disappeared into the fog.
Mom answered a couple of emails, put up some stuff in the kitchen...generally got everything ready for mornin' before she shut everything, including us, for the nite. Dad was already asleep, 'cause he had to get up really early for work. It was about midnite. Mom's not favorite hour, 'cause it ranks right up there w/"fog" pretty much for the same reasons, accordin' to her. Nothin' ever good happens then. She opened the back door an' called us to come inside.
Nothin'.....not a sound. Mom called us again an' again...she whistled....still nothin'...but fog. She grabbed her big lite an' tried shinin' it out into the yard.....still nothin'...just fog. Figurin' that Lexie an' I probably had gotten a 'possum or somethin', an' she was gonna find Lexie "guardin'" the prize, mom stepped out into the fog an' startin' on the side by the greenhouse began to make her way around the yard.
It was eerily quiet as mom first checked behind dad's shed, then under the fig tree, an' then the far corner. That's where she first encountered the standin' water. She tried to shine her lite down that far fence line, but it didn't do any good...all she could see is about 10' in front of her. Havin' no choice but to try to find us, she started makin' her way down that side. Her shoes were gettin' soggy, her feet wet an' cold...so, she decided about halfway to make a detour down the middle of the yard an' bypass the side between the fence an' pond, where the standin' water seemed deeper.
Still no sign of me or Lexie....just fog.
Mom made it around the pond an' towards the gate. She didn't even get close to examine it. She turned an' ran to the house, slammin' the backdoor almost at the same time as she placed the lockin' panel to Lexie's lil' door. Not stoppin' for her glasses or a jacket, still clutchin' her big lite, she grabbed our leads, then the hummer's keys an' ran out the door. A quick check to the front of the house, the side of the house an' behind the hummer, she backed out the driveway an' headed down the street into the fog.
You have to understand mom....she's not one given to panic in emergency situations...she's the one that's calm an' goes into action....she saves the panic until after everything is over. She drove first to the scariest place, down the street an' to the left....the field behind our house. The fog was so thick that even w/the lites from the hummer, she couldn't see anything but white. Everything was so still an' quiet...no cars anywhere, no movement, an' no barkin'. She turned around an' drove down the other way down our street...drivin' really slow down the middle of the street w/all the windows down an' stoppin' an' callin' us an' whistlin'. Almost to the stop sign, she saw me comin' down the sidewalk towards her w/my nose to the ground. She stopped an' called me.....I ran towards her, crossed the street an' headed down towards home. She turned the hummer around an' followed me...when she got beside me...I stopped...she pointed at me an' at the house an' told me in "that voice" to "get to the house".....I'm no dummy...so I ran straight to the house...the porch to be exact. Then mom saw dad walkin' on the sidewalk back to the house. She told him that I was waitin' for him an' she was goin' back to find Lexie. (He had heard her go out the front door an' then the hummer start, he knew somethin' had happened an' got dressed to help find us).
She drove back to where she had first seen me...still no Lexie. She then drove to the far street where we go for our walks...no Lexie. She turned down the middle street, but didn't really bother to look for her there...there were cats in driveways, just layin' an' watchin'. There's pretty much chance we had been down that street. So, she made it back to our street an' decided to turn left instead of right towards the house. She got about halfway, when she looked in the rearview mirror an' saw Lexie runnin' after the hummer.
Mom stopped an' got out an' called her. Lexie was hunkered down w/her tail waggin' furiously as she ran towards mom. When we got separated somehow an' she lost sight of me, I'm guessin' Lexie was makin' her way back home an' trackin' me, when she heard mom an' maybe was startin' to panic a lil'. We never go to that part of our street. Mom barely got the backdoor open before Lexie jumped to get inside...she was so glad to find mom. An' she showered her w/kisses all the way back to the house. When they arrived home, Lexie jumped outa the hummer an' dragged mom to the front door.
Our adventure was over..an' we were glad to be home. We went to our beds an' fell into a peaceful slumber. Mom on the other hand....didn't sleep hardly at all...all the "what if's" kept going thru her mind.
Mornin' finally came, mom an' dad examined the gate. Not only were boards pushed out, but they looked like they had been kicked or ripped out, but from inside. Some of them were literally busted in half. Our neighbor said he heard us after somethin'..but then it got quiet, so he thought we had gone back in the house. Everyone thought it was unusual....we never "hit" the gate. We'll bark at somethin' like a squirrel, cat or dog....even look thru the spaces in the boards. But never try to break it out.....so, whatever it was, we must have considered it a real threat to want to rip the gate apart to "get it". It had to be really somethin' that was either in our yard or tryin' to get in. The theories are possibly a raccoon or a person. The police dept. reported several vehicle thefts & break ins that nite...an' mom did notice while drivin' around, that there was a blue car drivin' slowly down a couple of the streets. In any case, dad (w/mom's help) rebuilt the gate, reinforced all fencin' around it, so once again, the outside world is safe from us...an' us from it. Whatever threat that was...is over as far as we're concerned. Lexie an' I chased it away...an' for that we're satisfied an' content in our yard. We really don't have any interest in gettin' out of our yard.
Mom still hates the fog, especially at the midnite hour.
No comments:
Post a Comment