A TRUE STORY

It’s almost impossible to understand, how when we make up our minds on something important, that without warning, something mysteriously changes it!

         I call these ‘unexplainable’ times - turning points! It’s when a person doesn’t understand at first, what force is driving them to act opposite of what their logic is telling them to do.      

         It had been a grueling week, the kind that had drug me home drained at the end of the days. To make matters worse, I was frantically searching every corner of my house, digging through pockets, scanning for gas money to get me back and forth to work.

          Now the weekend rolled around and Sunday was chilly from the heavy rainfall. “Oh no, I remembered I’m supposed to be at an event across town that night.” All-day long I grumbled telling myself, “I’m not going out in this storm; I need my gasoline to get to work.”

        And so it happened! On that Sunday, unexpectedly while against my own rational reasoning, RAIN OR SHINE, I was moved to get in my car and head out the highway. 

         The event went long that evening. I ran quickly to warm up the car, heading out the highway with wipers wildly swishing their blades against the storm.    

         It was getting dark as I reached my subdivision. Glancing down the hill I saw a strange object floating in the gutter. I was cold and tired, but something eerily and ‘unexplainable’ made me stop the car and take a closer look.

         Suddenly - I saw it! 

        It was a weak, little dog struggling against the river of freezing rain dragging its tiny body down the hill - towards the sewer!

             Jumping from my car, I grabbed it, wrapped it in my coat and held it close to the heat pouring from the vent in my car. "Little one, you’re so brave, where is your home," I whispered?” I was soaking wet and for a moment, I closed my eyes wondering what to do next.      

               Then, I remembered! I had seen a sign on a tree up on Brown Road. Could that possibly be information about this little dog? With my listless passenger in my lap, I rushed up to the main road.         

               It seemed forever as I rode back and forth searching for that sign. I was desperate and losing hope. But something ‘unexplainable,’ kept nudging at me to keep looking. I was weary. Out of frustration, I began yelling, “Please God, help me find that sign!” 

         All of a sudden, I spotted a huge old tree with a message wrapped in plastic and a picture of a small dog. Grabbing the sign I rushed home to call the number. I listened while the phone rang and rang, till finally the quiet voice of an older man answered hello. 

          “Sir, I asked, are you the family that lost a little dog?” “Yes, yes, we are,” he cried out. I described the dog to him and he began yelling, “Please, can we come over now?” 

         Moments later I opened the door to see an elderly couple. They began crying as they reached out to their little lost Sophie. They told me their story of how Sophie was their only family. We waited till Sophie regained her strength then the gentleman gently wrapped their dog in his coat to head home.           

         Before the elderly woman left she hugged me tightly around my wet coat, thanked me again and was quickly gone. 

         It had been a long, cold night and I was desperate to crawl in bed under the warm blankets. Locking the door, I realized how grateful I was through all this, I never once - worried about the gasoline money needed to get to work tomorrow.    

         Before turning out the lights, I draped my wet coat on the door near the radiator.  “What’s this,” I yawned, as I reached for a wad sticking out of my coat pocket. There, bunched in a white hanky was a hundred dollar bill – a gift Sophie’s mom had snuck in my coat when she hugged me.  

         In the darkness of the night, I lay in bed wondering about all that had happened. Were today’s events one of those mysterious ‘turning points’ people might even call a ‘miracle’? 

         Like a little lost dog yanked from a storm and given back to an aging couple; or the hundred dollar bill secretly passed to me to pay for gasoline.  What do you think? 

      Me - I pulled the covers up around my neck, smiled, and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.