On Saturday, Daisy got a bath. On Tuesday, she ran away. (Don't worry, she didn't get far and she's safe at home now.) This is how things went:
10:18 a.m. Daisy and I walk my mom out to my car so she can drive to Oklahoma City for the day. She's busy putting her things in the car. I'm busy watching her and snuggling into my fleece robe.
10:19 a.m. Daisy spots a cat in the middle of the street.
10:19:01 a.m. Daisy takes off across the street after the cat.
10:19:02 a.m. Daisy disappears into the woods across the street. My mom tries to sound the alarm on my car--as if that might get Daisy's attention, but it wouldn't. I take my keys and rush around to the driver's door. I twist my ankle and drop to the ground. I pull myself up and into the car. With a throbbing ankle, I back out into the street and start honking my horn--as if that might get Daisy's attention, but it doesn't. I pick up my mom, who is wandering up the street, looking for long gone Daisy.
10:20 a.m. We pull out onto the busy street connected to ours and drive in the direction Daisy ran. Windows down and calling her name, Mom spots her sniffing around in the first farm down the road. My mom gets out of the car and shouts for Daisy, who finally looks up and, realizing what she's just down, kind of cowers. I wonder why she looks black from the belly down.
10:21 a.m. Mom chases Daisy, who is covered with pond muck, toward the car. I yell to open the back door so the passenger seat doesn't get drenched in sludge. Daisy bypasses the doors and heads around the front of the car--into the line of traffic. Mom catches her and drags her to the back seat.
10:22 a.m. After a brilliant u-turn in the street, I drive home and pull into our driveway. I stay in the driver's seat to keep Daisy from jumping into the front while Mom goes to get her out through the back door. Daisy, certain now that she is in B-I-G trouble, flees into the way back. When I get out and go open the rear door, she leaps back into the front. We finally get her out and send her toward the side door from the garage into the back yard. Daisy bolts through the open door leading into the house (remember this fun fact for later) and jumps, mucky-feet-first, onto my favorite throw.
10:23 a.m. We send Daisy into the back yard and call PETCO to schedule another bath. I change out of my robe and pajamas into real clothes, pull a brush through my hair, and grab my writing gear.
10:24 a.m. While I sit in the driver's seat of the van, Mom drags the dog through the garage and to the passenger side, to the towel-covered seat.
10:33 a.m. I drop Daisy off at PETCO and go write.
1:37 p.m. I pick Daisy up at PETCO and get her a new tag engraved with the Stillwater address--just in case. I also got her some new tennis balls, which she always loses, and a green fuzzy wiener dog.
2:21 p.m. Back home, I replace Daisy's tag and give her the wiener dog, which she drags into the living room. I grab my alphasmart and my iced green tea and head for the recliner, ready to download the day's writing and keep my ankle elevated.
2:22 p.m. As I walk up to the recliner, I see a furry orange face peeking around the corner from the hall to my parents' bedroom.
2:24 p.m. I process the fact that there is a cat--A CAT!--in our house.
2:25 p.m. I grab the dog by the collar. The cat dashes behind my dad's desk. Dragging the dog behind me, I open the back door. When I pull the dog to the side, the cat darts out the door.
2:26 p.m. I slam the door and throw the deadbolt.
I seriously could not have made this up. There is a new rule in the Childs household: Daisy does not get to go out front without a leash. I swear, when she took off after that cat, her eyes and nose took over. A barrel of fireworks could have gone off and she wouldn't have noticed. And, while you have to admire that kind of focus, I really don't want to repeat this adventure anytime soon.
Hugs,
TLC
