Nelson's Adventure
I'm working on three collections -- this is from one called "Magic," stories with connections that have no causal explanation. Stories "too coincidental to be coincidence." (Yogi Berra)
Nelson, as he does many times a day, went down the back deck steps for a peaceful wander around the yard, sniffing and doing his business. But on this day, as never before, he started howling, running in circles, and, this old dog who has difficulty walking, took off down the street at a full sprint, cut between two houses, and disappeared from sight.
Really disappeared. Searching for him there was no sign, people about had not seen him, and a posting to a local Facebook group had many people looking for him, with no luck.
What had happened, it turned out, was he had gone to a small stream, near those houses, probably to get relief from whatever had gotten to him. That stream goes into a culvert that goes under the streets and yards and empties, after about two blocks, into the river running through our town. Whether by choice, or the current, he’d gone through the culvert and gotten stuck where it empties out above the river. Nobody on our side of the river could have seen him, which is how he so totally disappeared.
Two people on the other side of the river happened to look across and notice him. They came over to our side, wrestled him out of the culvert and saw that he made it home. Nelson probably would have died there, had they not seen him and come to help.
What had happened to him? There was no smell of a skunk, no porcupine quills, nothing to indicate anything had thrown him into such a state. Maybe some yellow jackets? But it was January. And he had been wandering the yard for years without incident. No idea what happened.
Connections
Whatever the reason, these events were uncannily entwined with emotions that had been building within me. The emotions didn’t cause the events nor the events cause the emotions, but they’re connected in a synchronicity sort of way.
Nancy, my wife and Nelson’s rightful owner, is in Florida for a few months visiting family and avoiding the cold. I’m staying in our home in Massachusetts, taking care of Nelson, who really is more our dog now, and using the quiet time to work on my writing while sitting by the wood stove.
Nelson is not much trouble, except he’s getting older, having recently passed my 77 human years in his dog years. The biggest hassle is walks. I used to really enjoy taking him off leash and watching him bound through the woods, and didn’t mind as he got older simply taking him around the neighborhood. But he’d gotten where he often would refuse to walk, and if we did start out, would stop and wouldn’t go either this way or that. It was annoying.
As far as doing his business, that wouldn’t have been too much of a problem if I could have done what we’d always done. Our house is on a slope, with the front door at street level and the back opening on a deck with stairs down to the yard. We’d let him out on the deck, he’d go down the steps, wander around the yard, and then come up the steps and back in, without leaving the yard. But his legs are starting to go and he can’t make it up the steps anymore.
Nelson came up with a solution. He’d go down the back steps, somewhat shakily, wander about as much as he liked, and then take the easier route up the slope on the side of the house. Then he’d circle around on the sidewalk, come to the front door and patiently wait to come in without even thinking of going in the street. What a good dog.
I’d keep a dog biscuit in my hand so I wouldn’t forget to periodically check the front door after letting him out. We did this maybe five or six times a day, whenever he was pacing about the house. It worked great.
But now the first major snow storm was coming, and all I could think of was what a pain. I won’t be able to let him out back as the steps will be snowy, and even if cleared, icy. And there isn’t much front yard between the house and the street. He’s obstinate about walks, yet paces about, and I am trying to write… I was working myself into quite an agitated state.
OK, maybe unjustly, maybe I was being a bit of a jerk, but, the key point for this story is, no matter what the reason, that was how I was feeling.
It was in that state of mind that I let him out for what I knew would be his last trip around the yard before the snow started. It was in that state of mind that I heard him start to howl.
And it was in that state of mind that, as I saw him tearing down the street, I knew my issues caring for Nelson were over. He was gone. I sensed, maybe, forever.
I didn’t feel good thinking that, but that’s what I was thinking. I felt guilty as if it was, and maybe it was, my fault he’d run away. As I drove around looking for him, checking the small streets, and the ones with traffic, there was absolutely no sign. I began to feel that he really might be gone forever.
I began to feel worse about how I’d felt, and began to despair that he might not come back, as I am actually fond of him and he is a good dog.
It was as that second state of mind was settling in that I got the call that he was found and safely home.
So there’s the magic connections. My resentment and his disappearance; my grief and his rescue. No causal connection. But my feelings and the events were perfectly reflected in each other as they unfolded that day.
Epilog
The next morning, I shoveled the snow, and when Nelson woke up, put on my jacket, grabbed the leash and together we went out the front door. No agenda, no walk, just him going where he wants with me following. He found a good spot to pee, then sniffed around a bit, wandered through the snow and a little ways up the sidewalk, found a good spot to poo and then headed back. It was just fine, hanging out with him whereever he wanted to go on a snowy winter day.
My fretting had been for naught, and his sudden disappearance and recovery got me connecting more with the good Nelson vibes, rather than the irksome ones. The whole, very strange, incident led us to a more harmonious place, and I got some writing done.
Happy ending! I love how you connect the events meaning!