Her Greatest Fear

Less than two hours ago, Maggie couldn’t have been happier.  She had been playing tag at the park with a group of children from a nearby nursery school.  Although unable to attend school and not able to speak, it never presented a problem for her.  She had been going to the same park since she was almost a year old.  Now at age six, everyone who had the opportunity to meet her, fell in love with her sweet disposition almost immediately.  But this afternoon, forty minutes after arriving, the sky began to grow dark, and her family decided it was time to return home.  As much as she loved the summer weather, thunderstorms were one of her biggest fears. 

Shortly after returning home, her family had decided to go out, leaving Maggie in the house all alone.  Although unable to verbalize her fears, she tried her best to let them know how frightened she was, but they just gave her a quick hug and told her not to worry.  And now, a violent storm was heading their way. 

            She sat on the sofa and buried her head under a pillow, but it didn’t silence the roar of thunder off in the distance. After several minutes, she pulled her head from beneath the pillow.  At that exact moment, a flash of lightening lit up the sky, followed by another loud clap of thunder.  Trembling, she ran from the sofa and hid under the bed.  Although unable to speak, a horrible sound escaped from deep down in her throat.

            Twenty minutes had passed and the storm showed no sign of stopping.  Panicking, she darted from room to room.  Feeling sick to her stomach, she vomited on the carpeting in the entryway, just in front of the door.  What would they say about this?  Even worse, what if she had ruined the carpeting?  Surely, they’d be angry and give her a spanking, but she was hardly in a position to clean it herself. 

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the sky began to clear.  Hearing the sound of the key in the front door, she ran toward the entryway but stopped herself short, as her family stood in the doorway looking at the mess she had made on the floor.

“Maggie!  What did you do?”

As she hung her head in shame, he reached out and gave her a whack on the bottom.  He must have felt guilty, because shortly after, he gathered her up in his arms and held her close. 

“What are we going to do with you Maggie?”  He asked, as he brushed the top of her head with his hand.

            Licking the side of his face, she caused him to smile. 

“You’re a good girl Maggie.”

 Such is the life of a dog!