Daisy the Dog

I'd always considered myself a 'cat' person, but then I met Daisy.

 

I decided to walk home from school and stop by at the public swimming pool for a quick swim. It was another hot day in Moranbah in outback Queensland. It's not way out back, but far enough. It was a twenty minute walk, but that was far enough in the sun for a physical exercise newbie like myself.

 

As I got to the main road through town I was joined by a small puppy... Daisy. I tried to shoo her away, because I thought that such a new and small pup was going to be missed by its owners. I've never had a dogso I didn't think much of it and thought it best not to give her any attention in case I lead her away too far from home. Ignoring her didn't work and she didn't understand words like 'go home' or 'shoo'. I imagined she must wander her streets often and that she would soon toddle off and go back. She didn't. She stayed with me. She just kept on walking with me, by my side, and in front of me, and between my legs, almost tripping me over more than once. I was worried. How long should I walk before I worked out how to get her home?

 

As we neared the public swimming pool, after what seemed like a lot of walking, I thought about who I could ring to report a lost dog. Who do you call? The police? We got to some long grass. The area had received an unusual amount of rain and there was long grass waiting to be mowed everywhere. I think in this town of ten thousand people there are only about fifteen lawnmowers. She stopped at the long grass and I continued on, thinking that she'll now turn around and return home. As I walked on I heard her cry.

 

I'm told that humans are the only animals that cry. Apparently, we're the only animals that have tear ducts. Whatever the case, this little pup was crying like a baby. I thought she was tangled and hurt in the grass and in pain, but on closer inspection I found her curled up and lolling around hopelessly and crying for help. She knew she wouldn't find home herself. She KNEW it. My heart broke and I didn't care how many doors I had to knock on; I'd find her owners. I picked her up, gave her a quick cuddle, checked her pink name tag and turned around. She jumped excitedly and stayed in front of me, full of hope.

 

We came across other walkers who commented on the cute pup. Each time I asked for advice or if they knew of anyone who'd bought a new dog recently. One said they'd seen a similar looking puppy at Rosewall street. I knew Rosewall street as I'd stayed there for a few weeks recently. For a short time Daisy started following one of the walkers but luckily she quickly realised they were going the wrong way, and she came back to me. We took the next turn and walked down a couple of blocks towards Rosewall, but before we got there Daisy paused for a while and sniffed, as if thinking. A few houses later she turned into a driveway and into the arms of her owner. We exchanged greetings and I saw the relief in his eyes. His kids were still out frantically searching the streets.

 

It was extremely satisfying.