July 2005 The Megaphone Page 4
I Don't Want To Love You
by Mary (Gordon) Gainer
It's not unusual to see the outside motion light come on. The electric eye is very sensitive and can be triggered by the wind blowing a leaf across the yard. The raccoons prowling at night can trigger it as can a stray dog or cat.
One Tuesday night, recently, my husband was not home so naturally when the light came on I looked outside to see what was out there. Two raccoons were on the bird feeder, and at the end of the driveway, quite a distance from the house was something very light colored, curled up and lying near the car. I thought it's probably a stray dog and it will be gone tomorrow, so without another thought of it, I went to bed.
Early Wednesday morning as I made coffee, I looked out the kitchen window and much to my surprise the dog was still there.
I read the morning paper while drinking coffee then prepared breakfast. After washing the breakfast dishes gathered the broom, dust pan and a trash bag and went to the front porch and began sweeping. Finishing the porch I then swept the upstairs patio, the steps down to the lower patio and finished by sweeping the lower patio. If you have ever had Oak trees you know want a chore this was. They deposit a lot of trash. By the time I finished sweeping I had forgotten the visitor out back and headed to the ravine at the back of the woods to dump my sweepings.
Seeing the dog lying in the same spot, I stopped. My thoughts ran wild, is he vicious? Ha, he hasn't moved. Has he had rabies shots? Probably, he looks clean and cared for. Finally I decided that I had better not provoke him so I hurried back to the house.
Later Wednesday afternoon doggie gets up and walks around the driveway. He hasn't had food or water all night and all day. I decide that I can't be so cruel as to deny him something to eat. But what? I don't have dog food on hand because I don't want the responsibility of a dog. Rummaging in the refrigerator I find a left over hamburger and threw it out the back door. Doggie sniffed the hamburger then picked it up in his mouth and took it back to his spot on the driveway and ate it.
One little hamburger isn't much for a big dog so back to the fridge I go and rummage again. This time I find a chunk of braunsweiger. Do dogs like braunsweiger? I guess we'll see. By now I'm brave enough to go out into the yard and lay it down but I don't stay for fear of him biting me. Doggie comes over and sniffs then licks it and rolls it around. It looks like Doggie can't decide if he wants to eat it or not. Hunger finally wins and he eats it. I didn't give Doggie any water because I did not want him to get too comfortable here. If he gets too thirsty he can go to the lake, was my thought.
As I stand inside the kitchen door and watch him roll the braunsweiger around, I realize that he is a very pretty dog, clean and well cared for. He has a collar on but no identification.
My husband came home around 3 pm Wednesday afternoon and we had to go to the service garage to get our car that had been in for repairs. When he got home we left quickly and I didn't have time to tell him my story and have him meet Doggie. It's 8 miles to the service garage therefore I had plenty of time to tell him about my day. I told him the entire story adding that I must find this dogs owner because I don't want a dog to take care of. When we arrived at the garage he let me out by the car and told me that I could go take the car and he would go in and pay the bill. Wal-Mart is across the highway from the garage. As I dig in my purse for car keys I say, "I'm going to Wal-Mart and get a few groceries and I need a couple of cans of dog food for my dog." A grin spread across my husband's face and he replied, "But I thought you didn't want the dog to stay."
"Well, I can't let him starve, he's too nice a dog and I have to feed him until I find the owner," I said.
Thursday morning I'm up earlier than usual. I must feed and water, yes water, Doggie. He is so happy to see me, he jumps around playfully and then both front paws land on my abdomen. I pat his head, rub his neck and -- what am I doing? I don't want a dog to take care of. I retreat into the house and Doggie eats all of his food and drinks his water and now it's time for a rest. HA! Don't think Doggie is going back out on the driveway. He lays down on the back porch in front of the door as if he is my guard dog.
Deciding that I must find this dogs owner soon, I open the telephone directory. There is no Humane Society listed. No humane officer for City or County. Remembering that the local radio station has a call in show on TV with local advertising scrolling the screen as the DJ takes calls for items to sell. I turned the TV to the station and watch for a while and I'm getting no information concerning this lost dog. Finally I decide to call the station. The DJ answered the phone and I asked, "Do you have a lost and found on your show?"
"What do you have" he asked. "A dog" was my reply. "A dog? What kind of dog?" he asked. Oh boy, what do I say to this man now? I know nothing about dogs except there are big dogs, little dogs, black dogs, white dogs, good dogs and mean dogs. I answer him saying, "I don't know what he is, a Lab maybe, he has big feet but he is not black." The DJ asked, "What color is he?" I answered that, "He is a sandy, white color, very pretty with wavy hair that is clean." He then asked if he had a blue collar on and I told him that I didn't know if it was blue but he did have a collar on. The D.J. said, with noticeable sincerity in his voice, "M'am, there's a reward for that dog." I said, "I don't care about a reward, I just want the owner to come and get the dog." He gave me the telephone number, I thanked him and quickly dialed it.
A lady answered and became very excited when I told her I was calling about the dog she reported missing. Overcome with excitement she said, "God Bless You. We didn't think we would ever find him. He belongs to my son." All through our conversation she repeated "God Bless You." Our conversation turned to directions to my house and she is familiar with the area. Her son, owner of the dog, owns a summer home on the next road over from us. She also said there was a reward for the dog and I told her that I didn't want a reward, I just wanted to find the dogs owner. She said she would call her son and he would come and get the dog right away, if he was home. She told me the dogs name was Diesel just like the fuel and I thought what a strange name, the fuel is black and the dog is white. That is probably another story but I didn't ask how he got the name. The important thing is that I found the owner.
I hung up the phone and immediately thought of a Doctor's appointment in Lafayette and knew that I should get in the shower soon or I would be late. I called the lady back and she was still excited and said "Oh honey, he's on his way. We are only twenty minutes away. We live in Star City." I waited the 20 minutes and a pick up truck pulled up in my driveway. A young man emerges and what a nice reunion between a man and his dog.
We made our introduction and with Diesel standing between us we exchanged our stories, his of losing his dog and mine of finding him. He then offered me a hundred dollar reward. I refused his generosity and told him that finding the dogs owner was reward enough for me. He insisted that I take it saying that his wife said to be sure and give me a hundred dollar reward. I told him that I felt like I had made a friend and just to be able to meet his wife and see Diesel occasionally would be reward enough.
I patted Diesel as he turned from his owner to me then back to his owner. He had learned to like me in such a short time. I then gave the remaining can of dog food to his owner and they left.
As I watched him drive away with Diesel on the front seat beside him, a strange feeling overcame me. I didn't like this sadness I was feeling. For the moment I didn't want Diesel to leave me. Yet I don't want the responsibility of a dog.
Diesel, I don't want to love you.
But I do!!!
Mary (Gordon) Gainer '59
Monticello, IN