Dog

She turned her head sharply right, immediately aware that the dog had trained his attention on her instead of on the running child. She told herself that the dog was nothing to worry about, yet she quickly assessed the distance between herself and the animal.

As usual her heart picked up its beat as adrenalin interjected its voice into the conversation. Continual self-consolations were ineffective, particularly as the stare of the dog was unrelenting.

She remembered the instructional dog show at the fair. It was there she had learned of a dog’s tail. If it wagged erratically no one should be alarmed—the dog was quite content. If it wagged like the tail of the cat clock on her great aunt’s wall she was in trouble. One brief glimpse and she realized she was sunk. The dog had no tail! Well, he did have a stump of a tail. It was such a stump, though, that it could not be seen to be moving. These animal mutilators did not have her best interests at heart! They clipped tails, ears, and who knows what else just to suit their revisionist eyes. Didn’t they know that God put a tail on a dog to warn her?

It was decision time. She took a quick and deliberate step to the right. So did the dog. Four feet versus two seemed hardly fair. She didn’t dare look into the dog’s eyes. That’s another thing she had learned. Well, actually she was suddenly confused. That man on television said you have to establish dominance, while someone else said you were never to look a threatening dog in the eye because that would indicate a desire to engage in battle for territory. Maybe she should just pee on the bush. That’s an act of dominance and claiming territory, isn’t it? Or maybe that would just be an act of public humiliation.

While she was distracted by this mental quandary, her heart started to slow its pace. She realized she was hearing all the street noises again. She didn’t remember not hearing them. Her hypothalamus must have closed its door. Her focus became panoramic, stretching like a yawn as her body relaxed from the initial rush of adrenalin. Then her focus drew in tightly and she saw, for the first time, the high chain-link fence that stood between them.

She took a quick right turn and was on her way.