Sunday, October 12, 2008

curtain call

we were out today and missed out on dugan's last hours. kisu returned to find the backyard empty, again. expecting a note in the mailbox, he went to the front door, only to find a group of people out in the street. at such an hour, it was unusual. one of them called out to ask if kisu had a dog. when kisu replied yes, the man said, "i just ran over your dog."

apparently, dugan got out and wandered across the street. guided by nothing but a desire to find warmth and security, he crawled under a recently parked car. not expecting an animal to be underneath, the driver pulled out and ran over the dog.

when i arrived home with the truck, kisu put dugan in and took him to the emergency vet. as he closed the door, dugan started crying. there's no other way to describe that sound and i will hear it in my head for a long time. kisu suspected a shattered hip or two but the vet diagnosed a broken back. the only thing to do was end his misery immediately. his fate was imminent, but we would never have wished that final injury to him.

we are still confounded as to how he escaped the yard. kisu thinks maybe he really pushed through the wooden gate and is berating himself for not checking it after the last incident. as if the man needed more blame to shoulder in this world.

i braced pooka for the situation on our approach to home. i told her to say goodbye to dugan because he wouldn't be coming home. she accepted his departure stoically. while getting ready for bed she railed against the neighbor again. she wants to set up a video camera to catch her trespassing. she will not let it go. i'm a little worried about her obsession. here is some of the conversation:

pooka: trespassing is mean and it's one of the commandments. mommy: it's one of the ten commandments? p: no, it's one of the 800 commandments from the devil and she is listening to him for some reason. so she's on the wrong side. m: she's on the dark side, like darth vader? p: no, it's not a movie and {agitated} i hate star wars.

*****
more tidbits from later:

m: maybe you could say a prayer for dugan, to help him get to heaven. p: why does he need help. m: we all need help. p: why? m: do you know how to get to heaven? p: die? {with wide eyes and a shake of her head betraying the unspoken 'duh!'} buy wings and start flying into the sky.

*****
if only it were that easy to find our eternal reward.