My friend Michelle came by to drop something off. I opened the door when I heard the car pull up and as I held the door open, my cat Buster ran in the house with a bird in his mouth! I didn’t know if it was alive or dead, but I tried to shoo Buster back towards the door. I didn’t want to pick the cat up for fear of releasing the bird.
I go outside and tell Michelle what happened. She comes back in the house with me and now Buster is on the mantel, minus the bird. I start looking around and find in the kitchen that the bird is flapping around the ceiling! In a panic I run back towards the front door hoping the bird will make it’s way toward sunlight. Thankfully the bird does and I throw open the door, cowering low as the bird flies out over my head.
Michelle and I laugh about it and then say goodbye. I go in the house to put something down and when I look back out the door, I see that in all the confusion my dog Banjo had run out the door and across the street. Michelle is calling Banjo’s name to get her to come back. Just as Banjo is starting to cross, my neighbor is driving down the street and SCREECHES to a halt stopping just shy of Banjo. Banjo stopped, looked spooked for a sec, and then ran to me on the porch. The following conversation ensues:
“What are you doing letting your dog out without a leash?!”
“EXCUSE ME! The dog ran out!”
“I have a dog, too! And…”
I stopped listening because I’d turned around to make sure Banjo had gone in the house.
Holy shit people, I am so shaken up by the whole thing. Our pets don’t provide this much excitement in a month. Ten minutes is way too short a period of time for all that to happen. I called my mom to let her know what happened and cried a little bit. The bird thing is funny, I’ll grant that. But I just keep replaying in my mind the car screeching and stopping.
Oh how I wish I could have a good stiff drink right now.