"WOLFGANG'S KEEPER"

It was 2003, on a balmy afternoon in Clarke City, Arizona. All the kids were playing and riding their bikes around the culdesac and Romelis Townsend, a firefighter for over 15 years, was flying his new drone around the neighborhood, saying hello to all the neighbors within earshot. He has lived at 1302 Spandler street for the last 18 years and there has never been an incident............until today. He knows everyone on his street and is well-known around these parts. There"s Mrs. Franklin tending to her prize-winning tomato garden, and Mr. Riley is sipping homemade peach moonshine on the porch with Mr. Hines, the mailman, (don't ask).

It was about 7:30pm that evening when he decided to pack up the drone and head back inside. As he patiently waited for it to make its descent to the ground, he glanced over across the street and thought to himself, "I haven't seen Mr. Von Dietrich all day long." His name was Fritz Von Dietrich and although he was the only neighbor that he didn't know much about, he was extremely nice. A lot of the neighbors did not talk to him just because he displayed a German flag on his mailbox. He and his Jack Russel Terrier (Wolfgang) always came to the fence for a chat every time Romelis walked his dog on the sidewalk. He thought nothing of it and went inside for dinner. All the kids on the culdesac seem to scatter inside to their respected houses as soon as the street lights came on. It was like watching all the balls on a pool table hit every pocket at once.

After dinner, he and his wife Priscilla played a board game to wind down the evening, but for some reason, he could not shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong at 1308 Spandler street. "Is everything alright Romelis, you haven't been yourself since you came in? Is there something wrong?" asked his wife in a concerned voice. "That's just it, I'm not entirely sure and it's bugging the hell out of me. Have you by any chance seen Mr. Von Dietrich today?", He asked. "Not since yesterday, he and Wolfgang were on the main trail at the edge of the park when I waved to him," she replied. "Maybe I'm just over-reacting. he added. "The couple went out on the porch swing until they fell asleep under the night sky.

It was a nightly ritual since his wife became pregnant. As they were fast asleep, He heard a dog barking so he looked down the street and saw what appeared to be Wolfgang, Mr. Von Dietrich's dog walking around in the middle of the street disoriented. "Oh my god, Fritz would never allow his dog to play in the street at night much less out of the front yard," said Priscilla in a high pitch voice. "I'm going to check it out," said Romelis abruptly getting up from the swing. "I'm coming with you, I'm a little worried myself," replied Priscilla. he grabbed her hand and slowly walked down the sidewalk being careful not to go too fast for the expected mom. As they got closer to the house an eerie feeling came over the couple and it was clear something was out of place. All of the lights were off and the front door was wide open. Priscilla called Wolfgang and picked him up as he came near. "Hi, Wolfie how are you? Where is Fritz huh? What are you doing out here?" she said in a cute little voice. "Wait, is that blood on his paws?" he asked.

They both looked at each other in horror. "Stay here", he uttered to his wife in a low tone. Romelis walked up on the porch, opened the door, and stepped inside. "Fritz.......Fritz are you in here? Fritz are you here?" yelled Romelis frantically at this point. He walked through to house yelling hoping for a response from his friend. He was on his way out of the house when he heard a slight low pitch moan. It was coming from the basement. He opened the door to the basement and called out. "Fritz, are you there". "I'm here yelled Fritz. I fell trying to flip my breaker. I've been here all day. A sigh of relief came over Romelis that his friend was still among the living. He yelled to his wife to go and get a first aid kit. He brought Fritz up from the basement after he flipped the breakers. The house was illuminated once again. "My God fritz you gave us a scare. I thought.........well it's not important right now.

I'm just glad you're safe. Just then Priscilla came in with her medical bag and gave Fritz a huge hug before she patched him up. "Do you need to go to the hospital?" asked Priscilla. " No, I'm good now, really I am. They talked for a while and Romelis noticed that Fritz had a piece of a broken stone under a customize glass protector. He asked Fritz what it was and he told him that it was a piece of the Berlin wall. he took a piece so that he would always remember what he suffered and what his fellow countrymen went through in that era. " You were there? asked Romelis. "Yes, I was. I saw my share of death, poverty, oppression, and uncertainty. To some, it was known as the "Iron Curtain" and to others, it was called the "Wall Of Shame."

To me, it was an obstacle that prevented me from traveling to East Germany to see my family. Two days after the wall came down I along with my sister defected to France in 1989 where we eventually made our way to America. My sister lost her life to Cancer 5 years ago and that stone is the only possession I have in this world from my past. Wolfgang is the only family I have left. He can be somewhat temperamental, but as Robert Dinero says, (What are you gonna do?). He ranted tearfully. They all laughed with the witty old octogenarian thinking to themselves that not only did he attend a major part of history, but he is a major part of history. "I have a favor to ask both of you", said Fritz. "Of course", they both said simultaneously. "I have no family left and no kids and I want you two to receive everything I own including Wolfgang," he asked the couple sincerely. "Fritz, don't talk like that", said Romelis. "I know that I don't have long and you two were so nice to an old man and his dog and I don't want it to go unnoticed. It's done, you are both in my will now go, go an old man needs his rest," he added playfully. The couple hugged the old man and headed out the door back to their house. They were both in awe of what transpired tonight. It was so surreal. the next morning Romelis got up and ate his breakfast and headed for work. He looked down the street at Fritz's house and saw an ambulance there. He ran down to see what was going on and the paramedic told him that he dialed 9-1-1, but he passed before they got here. "Did you know him? Sir, did you know him? asked the EMS worker. "I'm sorry, yes, he was my friend," said Romelis. He saw Wolfgang by the gate, picked him up, and walked him back to his house. He looked back and uttered the words, "be well my friend, I will miss you."