Just Another Day

Yesterdy, my normal routine was in place.  I went to work. I left at 5:00, and I picked up the kids.  I came home, ate dinner, and Hubby and I took the kids for a walk around the pond in our neighborhood. 

On the way home, we were walking by a house with a family who always hangs outside in their driveway.  Their dog, a big Weinmaranar, came trotting up behind me and Darling Daughter.  Darling Daughter laughed as the big dog followed us.  The owner assured us the dog was friendly and wouldn't hurt us; only he might lick us to death. 

I went home, and threw on my clothes for Taekwondo.  Then I told Hubby goodbye, hopped in the van to leave, and I blared Mumford & Sons from my iPod. 

I was driving 25 miles per hour, and the Weinmaranar, the one we had seen not thirty minutes earlier, ran right out in front of my car.  I slammed on my brakes, but I heard the sickening sound of bone underneath my tire, and I was completely horrified.  I looked the the left, and there the family was: mother, daughter, teenage son, watching me hit their dog.

When the car stopped, I jumped out and I saw the dog bounce out from under the van and run towards their house.  He was still moving, a good sign, but I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach.

The teenage boy immediately came up to me and said, "It's not your fault.  He jumped right in front of your car.  There's nothing you could have done."

The mother of the family corralled the dog, and was able to get him to sit.  I stood, feeling helpless in their driveway.  The dog had road burn on his knees, but otherwise looked okay.  He was limping a little bit. 

As I stood there, the neighbor from across the street came running over to see if everyone is okay.  She glared at me, and she said, "That's why you shouldn't drive so fast on this road."

"I was only driving 25 mph," I said.

And the boy again, "It wasn't her fault.  He walked right in front of her car.  She stopped."

I gave them my phone number, and I left.  When I was back in the safety of my car I cried hard.  I thought, "What if that had been a child?"  "What if I had killed that dog right in front of his family?"

I cried all the way to Taekwondo and then I went into the dojang and worked off my anxiety.