Traumatic Experience

Just had one of the most traumatic experiences of my life.

I was meeting a few friends for lunch at a local burger dive. Since it is only a mile and a half away and a nice day, I decided to walk and meet them there. Even walking, I beat the other three and pondered whether I should go inside and get a table or just wait on the corner for the others to arrive. I called Lisa to see how close they were to the restaurant, but our conversation was abruptly interrupted by a little boy, approximately eight-years-old, who ran up to me frantically.

I dropped the phone to my shoulder mid-sentence because something was clearly amiss, and the boy asked me if I had seen a white chihuahua run by. I told him that I just arrived and hadn't seen one run this way, but that I would help him look. As I did a quick scan to see if I could see a little white pup scampering around anywhere, I spotted a white dog about fifteen away and pointed saying, "Oh, there!"

The word "there" didn't even finish escaping my mouth before my jaw dropped in remorse. The dog was laying on its side in a way a dog wouldn't normally do unless it was... Before I could react, the kid screamed, "My dog!" and dropped to his knees in a dramatic fashion, sobbing inconsolably. Even though I'm a former teacher, I don't always know how to deal with kids well, especially in a situation like this. I bent down and started patting his back as he cried. I would have given anything to revive this kid's dog, but it was clearly no longer breathing.

For a few minutes, I tried to hug/console the kid, unsure of how I should deal with an unattended child and his deceased doggy. I actively hoped that my friends would arrive so that our collective minds could determine the best course of action, but before they showed up, a white van pulled up beside us. Inside, a man who I assume was the kid's father asked the boy what happened. As soon as the dad saw the dog, he started crying and screaming as well.

At first, he yelled at me. I guess since I was standing there, he assumed I was in some way at fault for running the dog over, but I told him that I had walked there. "Who is responsible? WHO KILLED MY DOG?!" he screamed at me. He was truly frightening, but I'll forgive him given the circumstance. There was a car parked right next to the dog and he wanted to find the car's owner, but I hardly doubt if someone were to run over a dog they'd proceed to park right next to it. I'm no veterinarian, but I don't think the dog was run over at all, seeing as there was no blood or sign of external injury. It's a hot day, so maybe it suffered from heat exhaustion or heart failure while running away.

Since I was unable to offer any clues, distraught dad scooped up the chihuahua and rest its limp body in his front seat. The still sobbing child hopped in the back seat and managed to say "thank you" to me out the window between his tearful heaves as the car pulled away. Promptly, I inexplicably dropped to the ground myself. As I sat on the sidewalk, I could better appreciate the kid dropping to his knees, because you know what, sometimes life is just too heavy to stand up. I was already dehydrated from my walk, but I managed to shed a few drops from my eyes.

Did I really have to be a part of that? Did I have to be in that exact right spot at the exact right time? Couldn't I have at least registered that the dog being dead before pointing it out to the child so he didn't have to discover it in that manner? If my friends had arrived on time, I would have missed the incident altogether. If I hadn't been walking briskly in order to stay ahead of a garbage truck so I wouldn't have to walk beside it the whole route, I also would have missed the incident altogether.

Finally my friends arrived, expressing some concern because during the whole episode I failed to hang up my phone, allowing them to hear a child crying and the subsequent screaming. From the sound of it, their best guess was that I had assaulted a child. Thankfully, they did a good job of cheering me up afterwards, but COME ON life, we've got to stop meeting like this. Quit fucking with me!