My first pet
turned out to be my only pet and Champ was not mine alone. I was about six or seven
and lived on an unpaved street in a neighborhood of five little brick houses.
The owner of these little houses was the builder, and his family lived in a
larger home on the property. Every house had at least one child. Now that I
think on it, no house had a dog or a cat only fish and turtles and children.
There must have been a no pet clause in the rental agreement.
We children
all played together through the yards between our houses. We had a swing set. The
house at the end had an extra bedroom and a tree in the back yard. Eventually,
it was our tree house. Across the paved road, at the end of our street, was a
large area of woods. Summer in Virginia was hot, and when a little black and
white terrier with a red collar joined our lazy play we were excited. First we
got him some water from the hose and them we named him Champ and then we
introduced him to all the parents and then we begged to keep him. The parents
said no, except for ours.
My Dad had
some scrap wood and built Champ a dog house. He was ours. We promised to
share him with all the other kids, but the dog and his house stayed with us. It
was a good summer, and Champ followed my brother everywhere or was it my
brother who followed Champ? Champ only had one bad habit. This little dog liked
to chase things bigger than he was. On
our dirt street, it was no problem, no fast cars. But across the paved road
with the woods to explore, was a temptation no dog could ignore.
It was
dinner time, and Mother told me to go and find my father and brother. They were
out looking for Champ. As I crested the hill that rolled down to the paved
road, I saw my brother on the side of the busy paved road. He was five and shouted
to me not to come down. My father was with him and had just covered something
with a rag. But I saw Champ. He was bloody and dead. I threw up and then ran
home crying. My brother and Father followed. It must have been a horrible night
for my parents; I know it was for us.
My brother
told me Champ ran the race with the car he pursued, only to stop and be run
over by the car behind him.
I love dogs
but never got another pet. My brother only had cats his daughters found in a
feral nest while he was cutting the grass. Fish and Turtles and snakes and mice
and other things live at his house but never a dog.
We still
have that little red collar somewhere; it moved with us from Virginia.
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