Bugs

On my drive into work there is a place I go by called Dunaway Gardens. The road in front of the place is a bit curvy and provides no clear view of what is ahead. That's what I kept telling myself was the reason for it.

Just as I was approaching the gate for the Gardens, I saw a dog walking alongside the road, it was a German Shepard. Walking just behind this dog were three small puppies. I slowed down and moved over a bit to give them room. I'm no big fan of pets, but I still enjoy looking at them. The puppies were solid black and stocky. Taking a guess I would have to say that they were definitely sired by a rottweiler. That took me back several years to when we owned a female rottie named Niki. They are are a great breed of dog, we had a great time with Niki.

I watched the dogs little barrel bodies wobbling around following their mother in a line, they looked well fed and well taken care of and were small and fat just as puppies should be. I smiled to myself thinking back to when we brought Niki home and then went on to think about some of the things she had done. We had some people over once and one of the guys started looking for his newly opened pack of cigarettes he had placed on the floor.. We had just watched Niki eat the entire pack in two or three big bites... One of her favorite things to do when she was full grown was to wait for me to fall asleep in the recliner and get a running start in the kitchen and jump on my lap.. a speeding one hundred pound dog landing on top of you is not a fun way to wake up...

The dogs were walking by the road around a huge oak tree with dirt around the bottom and no grass... The little puppies were working their way through the root configuration with some difficulty and kicking up some dust as they went.. That sight took me back to being a kid and playing with different toys around the base of the trees in our front yard and at my grandparents house... I had built countless forts and hot wheel towns in and around the root configurations of many trees in my day.

I had slowed down to a crawl as I watched the dogs doing the frolic walk behind their mom seemingly without a care in the world.. I began to turn the car into the oncoming curve that would take me to the bridge over the creek that is the boundary for Dunaway, feeling comfortable with the thought that I would be bathing in memories of my childhood for the remainder of the drive. I pressed the gas pedal and began to take the curve when I looked in the rear view mirror for a last glimpse of the puppies that had brought me to my memories..

I watched in amazement as they stepped out into the road and were plowed over by a truck traveling far over the posted speed limit.

I was treated to the horrible vision of the dogs last few seconds of life as I slowed my car down to begin the death stare with the amorphous asshole driving the truck. He was obviously in a big hurry, as he tailgated me through the next couple of curves in the road and over the bridge. We had cleared the bridge and started up the long straight shot to the next curve when he attempted to pass me. As his truck drew even with my car I matched his speed, not allowing him to pass me. He went faster and I went faster staying up with him. When we reached the next curve he began to slow down and fall behind me. I slowed my car down to take the curve and saw the store I was headed to so I could fill up with gas. I was sure to slow my speed down to about fifteen as I made my way to the turn off for the store and kept my stare up with the guy driving the truck, hoping he was going to stop at the store as well. He continued on through the next curve as I made a right turn into the parking lot of Roscoe General Store... But he showed how tough he was and I was forced to bow down to his superior wit and obvious ability to beat my ass... Yes .. he flipped me off as he drove away...

I filled my gas tank in silence and said nothing to the lady inside as I paid for the gas. I drove the remainder of the commute in silence. I parked the car at work and went inside to go about my daily duties... This day much the same as each day around it... I thought neither of the dogs or of the memories of my childhood for the rest of the day. Instead of heading home in that direction I found myself taking the alternate route through Whitesburge to get home. The only thing that had filled my mind was the look on the guys face as he flipped me off.

I thought about that guy most of the night and I began to ponder his mindset. I'm quite sure he went about his day not bothered by what he had done, somehow justifying his actions to himself. There was no other traffic, and the dogs were plainly visible, I'm sure he could have done exactly as I had and avoided them. True.. there is a leash law in place and the dogs shouldn't have been loose... but come on... I believe this selfish way of thinking and living has now become the norm. You can twist and distort reality to fit any version you desire and then tell people this until you yourself believe it... This is a sad way to live, and the victims that are left in it's wake did nothing to deserve what has been wrought on the forge of selfishness you have built... What a sad thing to be forced to deal with. People truly have no grasp of what they do.....