Run When You Can

I wanted to be free. I tried to engage Ace in thinking about running out the gate that was very rarely open. He had no interest though. Maybe because he was broken and no longer cared. Or perhaps because he didn’t believe we could make a run for it. But I knew the only way to freedom and a better life was through that gate. I would run and run fast. And never look back. Maybe I would find a rabbit to eat. I could catch a bird. It didn’t matter. I was ready to break away.

One evening after a particularly loud fight between the humans, Bob went out to the trash cans to move them out to the street. There were two cans, and they sat just inside the gate. Bob had been drinking his poison on this day and when he took the cans out, he left the gate open. I happened to be outside with Ace and nudged Ace to come with me. He just lay there, resigned to a miserable life. In that moment, I felt bad for Ace. But I knew what I had to do.

While Bob was pulling the second can out to the curb, I ran through the gate, down the driveway and past a screaming Bob. He did make an effort to chase me, but he was stumbling and I was too fast for him to do anything but watch me as I crossed the street and turned right, heading towards a setting sun and a new life. I could hear Bob yelling my name in the distance. But I kept running. I was happy at once. And terrified.

I ran and ran. I saw a big building that I had seen before, with children playing and happy sounds. It was called a school and was quiet now, but I was all run out and tired, so I tried to find a place to sleep because it was getting dark. I heard the coyotes in the distance and knew that they were dangerous and could eat me. So, I went to the big building and found structures that children played on and I curled up under one and fell asleep. All night. I heard the hoot of owls and the howl of coyotes, but I was too tired to care. I slept.

The sun came up and I was able to stretch and look around. The big building was quiet. No little humans were around. There was a grassy field close by so I ran there and it was wet. I found a little puddle of water and drank it. Not enough but it tasted good. I lay in the grass for a while, not sure what to do next.

I must have taken a nap because when I looked up there was a herd of ugly, smelly javelinas at the other side of the field. They were eating the grass. One big fat one saw me and started walking towards me. I have heard that they are mean and don’t like dogs so I ran away. As fast as I could. I had no direction and ran out into a street. Cars were coming, so I stood still in the middle of the road. One car stopped while I finished crossing the road. Then I ran into a neighborhood.

I saw houses where humans live and they all looked pretty much the same. I thought if I could find a nice human my life would change, but I wasn’t sure how to go about that. Not many humans were outside, but I saw the houses and I ran on sidewalks, sometimes sniffing if I could smell other dogs. A large man came out of his garage and saw me and tried to entice me over. But I didn’t want to see a big human and went off in the opposite direction. I was tired, hungry and thirsty.

I found a nice soft spot of grass in front of a house. Most places have rocks, but this was cool and a big tree gave me shade. So, I curled up in a ball by the base of the tree and closed my eyes. I had dreams of running through water and eating lots of delicious food.