Adventure Dog

"Four days after Hurricane Wilma struck South Florida, I decided to go on a long run on the beach. It was a beautiful, breezy day, so before I left home I partially opened the windows to let the breeze in. When I returned about 6 hours later, I noticed that the living room window was closed, and the fan was on; I didn't think too much of it, though, because I had arranged for my neighbor to come in and set up rabbit ears on my TV while I was gone. I figured he was hot, so he closed the window and turned on the fan. It wasn't until the next morning, however, that I found out what really happened, when I was awoken by a knock on the door:

   "Who is it?"

   "It's Josh, from the 900 Building... I found your dog."

   "No, my dog is right here with me."

   "No, I found him yesterday ... can you open the door, and I'll show you ..."

I was certain he had the wrong apartment. I quickly put on my bathrobe, picked up Bijou, and opened the door. "Are you sure this is the dog you're talking about?" I said, as I held Bijou out toward him.

"Yes."

Josh explained to me what happened, but it wasn't until later in the day, when Bijou and I had a heart-to-heart, that he finally confessed and told me about his adventure:

"You left me alone once again. I kept jumping up against the door so you could hear the pounding, until I knew you were down the hall and couldn't possibly hear me anymore. Then I stopped. I found my squeaky carrot and ran around squeaking it in my mouth for awhile. Then I got tired. I rested on our bed for a bit. When I awoke, I did a few whole-body stretches. I was walking around, trying to decide what to do next, when I suddenly became aware of a soft breeze coming from the living room. There was warmth and brightness too. I followed these nice feelings ... I jumped up on the blue ottoman, stepped into the big armchair, hopped up onto the window sill ... I pressed my nose against the screen. I smelled the air, felt the breeze ... then I noticed that a corner of the screen was bent! I figured Wilma did that. I remembered that we live on the first floor. I pushed my head against the screen, counted to three, and jumped! It was a relatively soft landing.

Outside on my own, I felt so free! I decided to explore. There was grass, dirt; there were bushes, trees, piles of twigs, wilted flowers, pieces of roof. I smelled a new scent and realized it was coming from treetops - which were on the ground! I took this opportunity to pee ... I peed on everything ... even when there was nothing else that could possibly come out, I kept lifting my leg anyway and pretended to pee! I came across a scent on the ground and immediately felt compelled to roll in it ... I rolled and rolled and rolled around in the area, making certain that I got every bit of that scent on my entire body. Shortly thereafter, I saw a puddle and waded in it; then, feeling slightly thirsty, I took several laps until my thirst was quenched.

Then I saw a man. I didn't know him, but he looked like a nice man. He was looking at me. I decided to continue exploring some more. I continued to wander around, sniff, lift my leg, wade in puddles ... I looked back and noticed that the man was still watching me. Then he walked over to me, bent down, and picked me up. He was walking around, carrying me in his arms, and I must say I rather liked it. It felt quite good to be carried up high like that ... higher than you carry me, Mom!

He stopped at the security gate, and started talking with another man, who was wearing a uniform. Both the men looked at the jewelry around my neck, and someone said my name! We all went to an office, where people were talking, and someone made a telephone call. Apparently, no one answered. I heard some keys. Then I was carried to our building, to our door, and the man in the uniform unlocked it! We all went inside, and I was lowered to the floor. The nice man who carried me said, 'I wonder how he got out.' I assumed he was talking about me, so I decided to show him. I jumped up on the blue ottoman, stepped into the big armchair, hopped up onto the window sill, pushed my head against the screen, counted to three, and jumped! Unfortunately, this time I didn't have much time for additional exploration. In a moment, that same man grabbed me and carried me back home. This time, after lowering me to the floor, he closed the window from where the nice breeze was coming, and he turned on the fan.

Both men left, and I was alone once again. I was rather tired, but I still managed to mess up our bed covers as I usually do when you're gone, so everything would look normal. Then I took a long nap on our bed. When I heard you returning, I ran to the door to greet you, acting as though nothing out of the ordinary happened. It wasn't until this morning, when I saw that nice man at the door, that I realized I had to tell you about my adventure."

Needless to say, that "nice man" is my hero! And no more open windows when Bijou is home alone.

Author's note: An important lesson I learned from this is to make sure your pet's I.D. tag is legible. Bijou and I have had the same address and telephone numbers for several years, so I never thought of getting him a new tag; I didn't realize that parts were worn. If my cell phone number had been legible, I could have been contacted ... hence, Bijou now has some new "jewelry!"

This story was kindly contributed by Nancey Bathurst, Bijou's Mom, from Florida.