One negative to living alone is that I am more susceptible to fear over every little noise. When Daniel is here, I don't notice the groanings of our home. When I am alone, my ears perk up with every sigh that the house makes. I also hear car doors slamming and garbage cans being rolled to the street. I sincerely admire those who live alone and are used to the "noise."
Last night {around 9:30} there was a loud crash that sounded to the front of the house. Sophie started barking and I flipped on the exterior lights to see what was going on. We didn't see anything. Sophie was acting a little nervous, so I decided to open the front door and let her check things out {this was well after the fact that I was sure it was nothing}.
As soon as I opened the door, Sophie bolted. After a rabbit. Which is incredibly annoying. She is known to do this on occasion. She KNOWS she is not supposed to do this and she normally comes back pretty quickly {and begs for our forgiveness, ears down and tail tucked}.
I could hear her dog tags clinking in the dark, but I couldn't see her. So I started yelling her name {at this point I feel like a TERRIBLE neighbor}. Sophie does not heed my calls and I can hear all of the dogs in the neighborhood howling. Then I start to get nervous because I can no longer hear her dog tags. I grab a flash light and my cell phone. My concern is that she has managed to get several streets over {closer to the major roads} and something will happen to her. And what happens if I can't find her???
I cross the street {in my pajamas} and knock on the door of the just-graduated-from-college guys. I explain to them that my dog has run after a rabbit into their back yard and I need to go check their back yard and I would appreciate it if they didn't call the cops on me... They are totally cool with me searching and offer to turn on the lights.
I walk to their back yard, not sure of what to expect or how deep into the woods I am going to have to venture. I am rethinking having a dog. Then how upset Daniel will be if I have to call and tell him that the thing he loves most in this world {after me} is missing.
I start calling her name and shining the flash light. Wait. Is that clinking dog tags I hear??? I look into the FENCED yard of the next neighbor over and there she is, peering at me through the dark. How did she manage to get herself inside a fenced yard? I'm not sure. I suppose she followed a rabbit through a loose section of fence and then didn't know how to return to me. I try to coax her around the fence but she doesn't seem to know what to do. And neither do I for that matter.
Deciding it is better to interact with the neighbors than to wander through their yards in the dark, I proceed to go to the front door of neighbor #2 - an elderly man {who we call the preacher as he is ALWAYS wearing a suit and he has 3 mini vans but no discernible family}. I ring his doorbell. He anxiously asks who it is through the closed door. I explain my situation and he opens the door because he recognizes my voice. He shows me how to access his gate.
I grab hold of Sophie's collar {even though I am 98% sure she will follow me home with her tail between her legs}. I don't want to take any chances. With the yelling and going door-to-door in my PJs I am sure the neighbors already think I am a little crazy...
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