Rainbow Bridge

Mr. Comcastic came to fix my phone line, only it turns out the problem wasn't with the phone line, but with one of the new phones I had bought last week. So yeah, it cost me $30 for him to tell me the base of the cordless phone was defective and it essentially sent the message back to the cable box that it was off the hook even when it wasn't. I suspected it might have been the reason for the phone not working, but it did work for a few days, so I decided to go with mere coincidence.

Of course, I had thrown out the receipt for it, and of course I have to return it because I know it was defective to begin with and it wasn't in my house long enough for me to be able to place blame on the boys and their negligence. So, on my way back from a quick errand at the mall, I stopped at the store in Manchester to get another one. The same one, yes, so I can put the broken phone back in the box of the new one and return it, with receipt. Of course, I will tell them the phone is defective so they don't go and put it back on the floor for some other poor buyer to purchase.

I headed home as dusk started to fall and suddenly, out of nowhere, Fluffy walked into the road and I had no time to stop and I hit him. I pulled over and stopped and from my rearview mirror, saw a man go into the middle of the road, pick up the dog, and take him to the side of the road. I don't know what kind of dog it was, but one of those cute little ones with the perky ears. I pulled my guilt-ridden self out of the van and walked over to the man and the dog. The man was crying. The dog was still. I didn't know what to do, and knew I really couldn't do anything since the dog was dead. I apologized, knowing full well it probably didn't mean a hill of beans to the guy crying over the dog, repeating over and over, "She's going to kill me. Oh my God she's going to kill me. We just talked about this."

I asked him to please extend my apologies to her, whoever she was, but I don't think he heard me. He never even looked up at me and I guess I can't blame him because why would he want to look at the person responsible for killing his dog?

So, I stood there and I couldn't really do anything for him. I didn't think he'd want to hear how I lost 2 beloved dogs to hit-and-run drivers and that we don't have another dog and won't until we take measures to ensure its safety with an electric fence because we live on a busy road, less busy than the road he lived on. I was about to lose it myself, so eventually, I turned and walked back to my van and coming in the opposite direction was a cruiser. How convenient. He let me cross and I motioned for him to pull over and he did, even flashing his lights.

I went on my way home. I am consumed with guilt. Why did the dog walk into the road in front of me? Why did I have to be the one to hit him? Damn, damn, damn.

Stupid phone.