An old man with a heart problem needed his walks to salvage what was left of his ticker. He had become fearful of taking those morning strolls because a pit bull moved into his neighborhood. The pit bull owners had been responsible in keeping their dangerous dog on a leash and behind a tall fence in their backyard. But the old man had seen stories on the news about pit bull attacks across America. Sometimes those dogs killed people, and at eighty-five years of age, he wouldn’t have a chance against a ferocious dog intent on killing him. He’d remembered the news story about an old woman whose daughter’s two pit bulls mauled her to death. What a horrible way to go out of this world. Hopefully, her death was quick.
On a foggy morning, his fear became a reality. The pit bull silently stalked him as he shuffled down Oak Street balancing on a quad cane. A tear formed in his left eye. He was thinking about his beloved Chihuahua, Prince, who had passed a year hence. His mind fixated on fond memories of Prince, he failed to perceive the approaching danger behind him.
The pit bull growled and lunged at the old man knocking him to the ground, his glasses flying off his face. Both hands on his cane, he blocked the dog’s attack with the cane against its neck. The dog was far stronger. Just as it was about to break through the old man’s defense and sink its teeth into his neck, the old man heard Prince’s bark coming out of the ether. In a millisecond, he saw Prince’s fiery spirit race through the pit bull’s body, severing it in half like a buzz saw from the beyond, the stink of death in the air, blood streaming on the ground.
The old man struggled off the ground. He gasped for breath feeling unbearable spasms of pain in his chest and dropped to the ground dead. Prince met him in the afterlife and guided him through the tunnel of Light and into the heavens.
Bob Boyd