The Stolen Dog by Tricia O'Malley

Author:Tricia O'Malley [O'Malley, Tricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: NF
ISBN: 9780989435116
Publisher: Park & Stowell Publishing
Published: 2013-05-19T04:00:00+00:00

Day 12

A slow throb of pain signaled it was morning. A dull headache from one too many cocktails mixed with the grating pit of sadness in my stomach. The day off seemed to ridicule us. There are no days off when your dog’s missing. The tedium screamed at me. Constricted by our inability to stop, I ignored invitations to Memorial Day barbecues and focused instead on how to use our open day.

The air seemed heavy with more than just impending storms as I logged onto my email to filter through hundreds of suggestions. An email from Annmarie, the woman who’d shown up on our doorstep, jumped out at me.

She started by saying that she never emailed from home because work kept her so busy that she demanded her home life be left alone. Her email went on to say that she couldn’t stop thinking about us and had already composed a list of ways she might be able to help. For starters, she’d reach out to her radio friends and ask to have a few of the morning radio hosts get our story on air. We couldn’t have bought that type of coverage — or if we could have, it would have been far beyond the reaches of our budget. Grateful for the help and hope, I replied to Annmarie with an overabundance of thanks.

Reenergized, we decided to continue with our Memorial Day plans. Our friends, Clodagh and Brian, had offered to take us out in their van again, this time including their own pit bulls as part of our street team. First, Clodagh had to run a fundraiser for the local Humane Society at her Irish shop in downtown Elm Grove, during the local Memorial Day parade.

Desolate, we plodded our way toward the entertainment. As we picked our way through the crowds of revelers, the heat pressed down on us. A bubble of sadness surrounded me as a kaleidoscope of parade images bounced past. The colors were too bright, the people too happy, and all I could feel was emptiness.

We reached the store and greeted Clodagh. Her infectious energy and love for animals radiated through her as she told us about her fundraiser for the Elmbrook Humane Society. Reviving our spirits, Clodagh introduced us to the shelter dog she had at the store that day to help promote the fundraiser.

I laughed at the shaggy pup and missed Briggs deeply. The puppy seemed to sense my sadness as he exuberantly licked my face.

As we waited for the Memorial Day festivities to die down, we outlined our plan. Fearless Clodagh was determined to go to the worst parts of the city. Through her animal activism, she was well aware of the places where dogs were treated the worst and knew it was quite possible Briggs was there.

The pit bulls that joined us were rescue dogs, Tash and Boru. They adored Clodagh and Brian and were full of spastic energy. I took some comfort in knowing they’d be coming along, because I truly didn’t know what was in store for us.

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