Okay, here is what happened. Our neighbor’s dogs got into a fight with our dogs through a hole in our fence. They chewed up Zephyr so much he had to have the entire front leg amputated as a result. Athena fared much better, only needed stitches, a shunt, and a little splint. That’s it. The dogs lived. No humans were hurt. Tillie wasn’t home to see it. We somehow have enough money/credit to get the pups fixed up and buy a new fence. Even the giant bloody smear can be cleaned out of the car’s leather upholstery.
But, it’s not really all that happened. This horrible lady whose five crazy dogs live behind me said things to me that I cannot get out of my head. They were so inhumane and un-empathetic and thoughtless that I can’t even repeat them. And the hard part is I can’t really hate her. I mean, I do hate her—I just don’t feel good about it. She is mentally ill. She is diagnosably paranoid. She is a horrible drunk—not a festive “baracha” party-girl—the kind of drunkard that slobber-rants at shadows and falls over and smells like liquor at 4 in the afternoon. How do you hate someone like that? Perhaps I can loathe her—that word is soaked in a little more pity than hate. Yes, that is how I think I will describe it from now on. I loathe my next-door neighbor. I loathe the person who lives near me permanently. I loathe the person whose house I see every time I walk through my kitchen. I loathe the person whose miserable problems have leaked over the fence into my life.
Scott says he feels that the experience made him grow, for the better. I’m not there yet. I definitely feel different from before, but it’s not the beautiful feeling of growth that results from overcoming the pain of getting your heartbroken. I don’t have a deeper understanding of poetry or art. I am not inspired to create things or express myself. I’m not a better person. No, really, I just feel like the world is a little uglier than before. Animals are wilder and more unpredictable than before. People are meaner and stupider than before. I’m a little less in control of the safety of my loved ones than I was before.
PS. Okay, maybe there is one ridiculous tiny upshot...Dare I say that Athena looks even cuter with her little pink and purple cast? It is true!
5 comments:
Oh my god! I'm so so sorry. This is horrifying and upsetting and I'm so sad that you have to still live near that woman. I'm glad you're dogs are alive (and adorable!), but this just makes me want to cry.
Athena DOES look even cuter and what a trooper Zephyr is. One other positive is that they were in it together. No paw pointing as to who went through the hole first, Athena or Zephyr, neither left their wingman/winglady they had each others back. They are tight!
Geez, what a traumatic thing to happen! It's horrible, but I'm glad the two came out of it together (and with all their cuteness intact, which is a nice bonus). My sympathies to you both for having to deal with this and for such a rotten situation, but congrats on getting them into recovery quickly (and for choosing such a cute cast color).
I do agree with you, and can't believe it's possible, but Athena does look even cuter than her usual super-cute self with that hearts cast. Glad to hear they're both looking and feeling good. They are real buddies, alright!
Oh, man! That's a terrible tale! My dog got chewed up once and it's just the worst thing for a doggy-parent to go through! Isn't amazing how resilient dogs are? They're like, "Oh, I seem to have three legs now, okey dokey!" I wish I could learn acceptance from them.
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