Story time-
Last night, I had plans to hang out with my friend Bradley Turner. He is from my high school. We were never really per say 'friends' in school, but as of this year we have become good friends. We made plans to go see the movie Skyline and invited a few other mutual friends. To no surprise, no one else could make it. Brad and I decided that we would just go grab some dinner, a beer and then go to the movies. We ended up going to Buffalo Wild Wings. Got ourselves a dozen wings, a tall beer and just caught up with each others life. It was actually really fun. We went to the area just hoping a movie would be playing around an hour later than our arrival, that way we would be able to eat, talk and then go to the movie. There was a movie playing about an hour and forty-five minutes later. "lets just go to that one!" we thought. We got done with dinner early, and headed over to Cold Stone, where I got Oreo Creme Filling ice cream with Oreos, fudge and a brownie. it was delicious! Walked over to the theater with about twenty minutes to spare and decided that we want to see Due Date instead. (Which by the way, is hilarious. If you are a fan of Robert Downey Jr. and/or Zack Galifianakis, go see this movie.)
After the movie was over, it was time to head home. As we were driving down Elliot towards my house, Brad suddenly slams on his brakes. "Did you just get a ticket!?" I remember thinking to myself. "OH MY GOSH!! I ALMOST JUST KILLED THAT DOG" Brad says. To my surprise i look straight and see, no joke, a huge, wolf like dog running across the main street. The car next to us slams to a stop to allow the dog to cross the street. I remember thinking good thing no one was behind us because we would have caused an accident. As we begin to drive away I start thinking about that poor dog. What if that was my dog running around on busy streets at 11:00pm! I would be so sad if someone didn't try to get my pet, who is loved, home. "Brad, we NEED to turn around and save that dog! Imagine if that was your dog running around, wouldn't you want someone to take it to you if they saw it! WE HAVE TO SAVE IT" I said.
As Bradley flipped a U-Turn, we began our dog hunt. (Or wolf hunt, if you will.)
There she is, just running through this neighborhood, clearly wearing a collar. Perfect! We can see if there is a tag on her, if we can get her to come near us without getting attacked. Keep in mind, this dog is huge. Bigger than a German shepherd for sure. But very beautiful. She looks like a wolf, roaming the city streets with a hunched back. After a few minutes of talking to this dog in my baby voice, she starts to get a bit calm and approaches our car. Finally, she comes slowly to me and i put my hand in front of her face to let her know that I am not going to hurt her. I let her sniff my hand and get used to me before attempting to pet her. After a few minutes of sniffing, I go for it. BOOM! CONTACT! It is official, I have made a new friend. I start scratching her behind the ears as she sits in front of my feet, panting. I then look at the tag, and ask Brad to hand me my phone. I dial the number, but to my surprise the phone number was no longer in service. Now at this point, I felt a little happy and a little sad. Happy because I thought to myself, maybe I will be able to keep this dog! Sad because I felt bad for the family who was missing their pet. This dog was well groomed and well behaved. It was loved by someone, someone who is probably missing their dog a lot right about now. Luckily, the tag listed a street address. We take the dog to my house and map quest the street address. We realize the area we found 'Loki' was not far away from where the address that was listed was located. We take the dog and head over to the house. As I am walking up to the house, I remember thinking to myself "I bet they're going to be so happy we found their dog. I bet this dog is going to be so happy to see its family. I am so excited to see their reactions!!" I ring the doorbell, no answer. I knock on the door, no answer. "Brad, should I ring the doorbell again??" I shouted from the front porch to the car, where Brad decided to stay in, sit and wait. "Yeah. Do it!" Third times a charm, right? Not in this case. I wrote a note before we left my house, just in case this would happen. The note read as following 'Hello- I found your dog Loki. Please call Leah @ _ _ _ -_ _ _- _ _ _ _ !!" I left the note on the front door, but I really wanted to just forget about it and take the dog home with me. This dog was so well behaved and knew commands. Their fault that they lost her!
We proceeded to drive over to my friends Alex and Jon's house to pick up a table that I had left their from a previous get together at his place. He wasn't home yet, so I decided to just sit outside of my car with the dog. This dog was sitting right next to me. We were friends already. I felt a bond. As soon as he parked his care and got out, he goes "Is that your dog?" and my answer was simple..."No." I then began to tell him the story about how we found the dog and how we were trying to find its home. He lets us bring her in the house, and she is well behaved. She is just laying around us and cuddling next to us, and get short term love from her new friends. After about an hour of hanging out at his place, because Brad needed to turn in homework at midnight and was using one of their computer, I decided to check my phone. It was on silent so I didn't realize all the missed calls I had gotten. A couple from my mom and dad, wondering where I was. And one phone call from an unknown number. I checked my voicemail... "one new message" it spoke to my ear. "OH NO" I remember thinking. At this point, I really just wanted to keep the dog for my own.... "Hi Leah, this is Danielle. We got your note about Loki. If you could please just give me a call back at _ _ _-_ _ _-_ _ _ _ as soon as possible. Thank you" My dreams of getting this wolf dog as a pet were crushed instantly. I called her back and let her know that I had Loki and she was safe and that I would be over in about 10 minutes with their dog. After taking a few pictures with her on a camera and making a few jokes about keeping her, we loaded her up in my car and drove over to the house. As I was walking up to the door, I started getting excited just thinking about the reunion that was about to take place in front of my eyes. I kept placing myself in the owners shoes and thinking "if this was my dog, Gus, I would be going insane!" As I ring the doorbell, I look at the Loki, pet her head and say "Good dog." The door swings open with a gust of wind that smells like weed and trash. I peek in the house and the floor is dirty, there are a few black lights on with a couple of younger kids, close to my age, just sitting around. "Get in here, Loki" the guy who opens the door says... Without even an OUNCE of excitement or happiness in his tone. I was so bummed!! What a horrible thing to see. It honestly broke my heart. I wanted to tell that dog to run away again and I would find her somehow. I decided to ask, "wait, what kind of dog is she? She is absolutely beautiful and very well behaved!" The answer I get..."Husky/wolf.... Thanks again" And then the door was shut in my face.
I still feel uneasy thinking about all the work Brad and I did to get that dog back to its home with its owners and family. I'm not sure, maybe it has a great life and I just caught them all on a bad night. I felt like that dog was much more worth the life it was given. Maybe I will end up stealing the dog, since I know where they live now. I bet she would be happy running around the yard at my house. Oh well, it was a beautiful short-term friendship. Best of luck my wolf faced friend!! If you ever need a pad to crash at, just holler.
the end.
-Leah
