Runaway

Lu ran away yesterday. She squeezed her lithe little body through a crack in the fence and away she went for an adventure, laughing and kicking up her heels as she skipped down the sidewalk.

Nothing I can type will thoroughly describe the panic I felt during the hour or so we were looking for her. Is she a human? No, she's not. Do dogs run away all the time? Yes, they do. But it was horrible to think that she might get run over on Hulen or the frontage road. It also was horrible to think she might have been stolen as a guy suggested to me when I stopped to ask if he had seen her. I'm not sure why he mentioned it, but it just about put me over the edge. We got the in-laws involved. We got the neighborhood "civilian patrol" involved. Obviously we were desperate.

I cannot remember the last time I sweated that much since Honduras. I was a lunatic, frantically asking garage sale patrons and neighbors if they had seen a friendly little Boston Terrier. Long story short, I had pretty much given up hope after walking/running through all of Arlington Heights bra-less in my big pajama shirt and gaucho pants. I had talked to Carter, and we were both headed back to the house.

As I was dragging myself back toward the house, I happened to look over in a backyard a few houses down from ours... and there she was, smiling. I said, "Lu, is that you?" She said, "Maybe... I'm just having fun. You know. Doing what dogs do." I said, "What is wrong with you? You never do this kind of thing." Then Louise, the owner of the house, came out and told me that Lu had wandered into her yard, and she just kept her back there. After a lot of blubbering, nonsensical thank you's, Louise handed her over, and we went back home.

I think Lu and I were both dehydrated after the whole experience, so we both took a bath, drank a lot of water, and watched a Michael Jackson tribute together on the bed. The End.