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They Can Fool the People Most of the Time
- by Connie Shephard
I arrived home late for my afternoon walk. I entered the house expecting to be greeted by scolding sounds from my Husky, Misty. No greeting. Sulking again over my lateness, I decided as I cruised through the house calling her name as I checked each room.
No dog. Panic began to overcome my casual search. All the while the smoke alarm was emitting a loud beep announcing a low battery, adding to my frustration. More so because it was beyond my reach even with my ladder. I re-entered each room, looking under beds, behind chairs, in closets and bathtub and showers. No signs of her. No answer to my calls.
There was no way for a dog to escape the house. All doors were locked except one that was covered by a screen door. All I could believe was that someone had entered that door and either let her out or had taken her. Nothing else seemed disturbed or missing.
I questioned the next door neighbors, who stated they saw no one with Misty. From the blare of their TV I figured they wouldn't have heard my house burn down. I also asked a few walkers if they had seem my dog, with no results.
My friend suggested that I call the police, which I did. I told them of my suspicions of someone entering my house.
An officer arrived (from the canine unit). He and I searched the whole house, finding nothing except the blasted beep. Search being unproductive, he climbed the ladder and removed the offending alarm.
After taking my information, he left to notify animal control. He was as puzzled as I and figured the person must have become frightened off by the dog and left, letting Misty out as he fled.
As I went into my door-less closet to hang up some clothes a few hours later, there was the "stolen" husky curled in a knot under some low hanging white clothes. She looked at me, still refusing to come out. What her problem was, I'll never know. It may have been the smoke alarm that scared
her.
What a way to make an idiot of me and a waste of an officer's time! Incidentally, the police dog was barking in the police car through the whole ordeal, doubtlessly bored finding his services weren't wanted. He would have found Misty in a minute.
Oh, did I mention all this happened on Friday the 13th? |
