5. Mabel

Mabel

“ H ow’s it going in Starlight Bay? Are you meeting a lot of people?”

My friend Renee was possibly the only thing I was going to miss about living in Chicago. We’d met when she started doing meal prep services for us back when I was married. Renee was one of the best private chefs in the city. When I found out that she also did cooking classes, I’d hired her to teach me some culinary skills. We’d been good friends ever since. She’d even let me stay with her for a couple of days after I left my husband.

“It’s only been a few weeks since I moved in. So far I’ve mostly met my neighbors,” I told her. “It’s weird because I spent so much time here as a kid visiting with Aunt Sue, so Starlight Bay feels like home to me, yet I’m a stranger here.”

“You won’t be a stranger for long,” Renee assured me. “My best friend Liz lives in a small town in Colorado, and once they figured out that she was staying, people pretty much adopted her. You’ll have more friends than you know what to do with before you know it.”

“I’m sure you’re right. I feel at home here, and that’s the important thing. Once I get settled, you and Rob should come out and visit me.”

Renee had met her husband Rob when she was hired by his kids to give him cooking lessons after he had a major heart attack. She helped him learn about healthy eating and picked up a great guy in the process.

“We will. Listen, I’ve got to go meet a client, but let me know if you need anything,” Renee said. “And try to get out and meet some people.”

“Thanks, I will.”

After I got off the phone with Renee I puttered around my new house for a while. I’d purchased a great two-story house with a view of Starlight Bay. The main floor had a living room with a huge stone fireplace, an updated kitchen, dining room, a half bath, and a little office that I’d set up for when I started having clients coming for tarot card readings.

The second floor had two bedrooms with a large bathroom that included a clawfoot tub and a separate walk-in shower. The yard was fenced in, giving me plenty of space to let Esmerelda run around. Best of all, it was all mine, decorated just the way I wanted. Instead of the muted whites and greys that had predominated the house I’d lived in with my husband, this house had bright colors and lots of artwork. I loved it.

When the house was as tidy as it was going to get, I started scrolling through my email, stopping when I got to a newsletter from one of my favorite animal shelters.

“January 14 th is National Dress Up Your Pet Day”, the newsletter said. “Send us pictures of your pets in their best outfits and we’ll post them on our Instagram!”

Dress Up Your Pet Day? Now that sounded fun. Betting that there would be others in this quirky little town who were giving their pets a glow up, I decided to dig out the princess costume I’d gotten Esmerelda for Halloween last year.

“Oh, you look so adorable,” I told her, rubbing right between her ears just like she liked it. “Let’s get some pictures.”

The costume was a light blue with gold trim and a cute little belt that wrapped around her middle, the ‘skirt’ part going down almost to the ground. Esmerelda was a bit of a ham, so it wasn’t hard for me to get her to pose for several pictures. I clicked through them, saving one as the wallpaper on my phone, then I posted a few on my Instagram, tagging the shelter and using the National Dress Up Your Pet Day hashtag.

It was time for Esmerelda’s walk, so after attaching a leash to her rhinestone collar, I headed towards the dog park to see if anyone else was dressing up. Even if they weren’t, it would be a good opportunity for Esmerelda to play and make some canine friends. I’d been working on socializing her with other dogs after her traumatic experience being at the shelter.

It was a beautiful, sunny day and the dog park was only about half a mile away, so I decided to walk. As we made our way through town, I greeted other townspeople, several of whom stopped to compliment Esmerelda’s princess costume.

One of the things I loved about Starlight Bay – besides the friendly people and laid back vibe – was the abundance of usable outdoor space including several large parks. The whole town was set up to create opportunities for being outdoors, even when the weather wasn’t good.

The dog park was on one side of a recreational area that included picnic pavilions and baseball diamonds. Since it was a weekday, the baseball diamonds were empty, but several kids were playing in the play structures at the far end.

We entered the off leash area of the park and seeing that there were several dogs playing near the fence I disconnected Esmerelda’s leash so she could run around with the other dogs. Just then the biggest Doberman I’d seen in my life came running towards us, barking like mad. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to play or kill us. Frantically I looked around, searching for his owner, and when I didn’t see anyone, I reached down for my dog.

Unfortunately Esmerelda took that opportunity to run away from me, something she’d never done before. The Doberman took chase.

“Esmerelda! Come! Stop.”

When my dog ignored me, I took off after them, hoping that the Dobie wasn’t planning to eat my little pup.

Suddenly both dogs skidded to a stop as they saw the biggest, fattest squirrel I’d ever seen in my life. The squirrel looked right at us and made a hissing noise. The dogs exchanged a look and apparently decided to join forces because they took off after the squirrel, running side by side. Esmerelda’s tiny little legs were moving so fast it looked like she was floating over the ground. I couldn’t believe she was keeping up with the larger dog.

The squirrel ran up and over a low box hedge, the Dobie following with a flying leap that landed him on the other side of the hedge. I watched in horror as my dog continued following her new friend. Esmerelda was more than a foot shorter than the big dog and unfortunately she didn’t make it all the way over the hedge. Instead she landed on top of it, sinking inside and disappearing from sight.

The Doberman kept up his pursuit of the squirrel, both of them running away towards the trees while I skidded to a halt next to the shrub.

“Esmerelda! Esmerelda! Oh my God, are you okay?”

I couldn’t see her, but I heard a high pitched whimper from inside the hedge.

I dug through the branches trying to extricate my dog, getting scratched up as I dug deep trying to find her. Somehow she’d sunk almost to the bottom, dead in the center of the hedge. The branches closed around her, trapping her.

Esmerelda was making a whining noise that I’d never heard her make before. My baby was obviously scared.

When I finally was able to grab her and lift her out, Esmerelda’s princess costume was in tatters, pieces of it tangled around her. The belt was wrapped tight around her little dog waist, blood seeping from the edges and coloring the blue fabric. When I tried to move the belt, she made a painful yelp.

Trying to decide what to do, I set her down on the ground. Esmerelda took two limping steps before she cried out again and collapsed with her leg out at an odd angle. Her eyes were clouded over in pain.

I tried not to panic. I could freak out later. Right now, I needed to help Esmerelda.

“Don’t worry baby, we’ll head over to the animal hospital and get you all fixed up.”

A quick check of Google showed me that the Starlight Bay Veterinary Hospital was closer than my house, so I took off at a run, my sweet little dog cradled in my arms.

One block later I slowed to a fast walk, gasping for breath. I really needed to get into shape, this was embarrassing.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I burst through the door of the Veterinary Hospital. Two staff, one male, one female, both wearing light blue scrubs with cartoon animals on them, looked up as I slammed the door open. I was soaked with sweat, my arms were covered in bloody scratches, and I was sure my face was red and blotchy from exertion.

“My dog is injured!” I yelled. “She’s bleeding and something’s wrong with her leg. Oh my God!”

Then I did something I hadn’t done in years – I burst into tears.