A Friend at the Right Time.

One of the disadvantages of living in the deep south is the constant onslaught of heat and humidity. For a man who has spent the better part of his adult life in a temperate climate, this poses a few challenges. Fortunately, I usually have the option of setting my own hours which allows me to beat the heat by working into the evening. That is how I found myself, on the wrong side of midnight, driving through rural Louisiana on a warm night in July.

I had packed up my gear and was walking across an empty parking lot to work on my machine when a beagle fell into step next to me. No man with a soul can resist scratching a dog behind the ears, so being the soulful man I am, I squatted down to show the pup some love. She immediately retreated with her tail between her legs. I shrugged it off and continued with my task

Once I finished the work I turned to leave and the beagle lept into pursuit and gave a little yelp. Again I tried to give her a scratch and again she shied away from me. I almost left it at that but I couldn't resist one last try so I sat on the sidewalk and waited for a while. Eventually my patience paid off and my shy little K9 acquaintance came close enough for me to pet her. She stepped into the meager light shed by the streetlights rolled over. I knew then why she was so skittish. In the dim light of the parking lot I had missed the scars. Someone had treated her so badly that almost her entire body was covered by one scar on top of another. Burns, cuts and scars which I couldn't even identify. The only part of her that was untouched seemed to be the part I was petting. After a few moments she decided I must be OK and put her head on my lap and we sat like that for an hour or more while I talked to her. In my mind I was trying to weigh the pros and cons of giving this dog a home. How could I, in good conscience, leave her to whatever situation she was in? The world owed this dog a comfortable existence after whatever hell had marked her.

Just when I was starting to convince myself to start looking for a leash, she stood up, gave a bark and a shake, licked my face as if to say thanks for the chat and padded off down the nearest road leading out of town. It seems that she had found her own path out of hell and only stopped because she saw someone who needed a friend just as much as she did.

After my last post, the few friends who read this little island in the ocean of cyberspace pointed out that when one has friends, it is hard to chalk up ones existence to the negative. After dusting off this old story and giving it some thought, I have to agree. But there are other points to consider. First, when an unknown soul (be it dog or human) can see the good in you at a glance, no matter how dark it is, there must be enough light in you that everything else you do can be viewed in it's brilliance. And finally, the Powers That Be have an uncanny knack of sending a friend at just the moment you need it most... even when that moment is a long way down the road. All that's required is to see them when they come.