There Once Was a Pup Named Bailey

This past weekend, we have babysat Bailey- an adorable Schnauzer that is just shy of two years old. Miss Bailey's hometown is in Wingate, North Carolina- near Monroe- and her parents are my parents- Thomas and Karen. She is a dark gray color and is close-shaved along her back and sides- her stomach and legs are shaggy and long. She has a small stub for a tail and these big amazing brown eyes. Her ears flop over and when she looks up at you, they can go straight out and look like Ewok ears. She has a beard and shaggy eyebrows like Charlie Chaplin.

She whines when she needs to go out or when her daddy left her today- she growls at unusual things- and she barks at the legless dogs, aka the snakes, that we have in the cage. She loves her some Branson, although I can't say if the feeling is mutual or not. She loves to shred toys and loves a fleece rope that I got Branson from Woofstock. She doesn't have the tug-of-war thing down pat yet.

She has some unusual behaviors- like last night when we were getting ready to go to bed, and she felt the need to shred her bed. She turned her bowl of food over on purpose. She refused to come up the stairs and had to be carried. She sat beside of Josh and started growling/talking for no reason. She refuses to be fed from her bowl and prefers to be hand-fed, if at all possible. She was playing with the rope and sat half of her body on me, the other half on the floor.

I got in the floor to play with her, and she proceeded to give me kisses and love and bit/nibbled on my nose. She still has the run of a puppy, that prissy trot that most dogs have. She gets the most interesting looks on her face, especially when she's trying to understand what you're saying. She is rarely ever still but is the most beautiful pup when she is sleeping. She understands sit and shake- doesn't understand Come here just yet.

One thing is for sure-- I LOVE this little girl... she is the greatest dog EVER!!!

I put on my I-Pod headphones on and headed outside for my daily walk as I always did, but this night was different. Something was different, I could feel it but couldn't see it.

The Carolina blue sky above me gave me a show of dark blue clouds outlined in pinks and yellows- it was absolutely gorgeous. The hot summer weather took my breath away as soon as I stepped outside, and I immediately thought how I couldn't wait until next month when the weather would start cooling down.

I took the three flights of steps downstairs and noticed how much more comfortable my feet felt since I had bought shoes specifically for running and some insoles that supposedly made my feet and back hurt less. But that wasn't it either...

What was it that was different?

I turned my I-Pod to song 37 and turned my volume up as loud as I could, before stretching my legs and taking off to run.

"Hung my cotton dress on rusted wire," blared LeAnn Rimes as she sang "Nothin Better To Do" loudly into my ears. I was in my running mode, paid attention to nothing and no one around me. I ran my five miles and headed back up the three flights of stairs to my apartment.

I took my end of the day shower and was getting ready to get into bed by eleven. As I stood beside of my bed, I looked down at my feet and thought how wonderful my feet still felt with my new shoes and insoles. I couldn't believe it.

I lifted one leg to get into bed when I felt it and knew what was different- excruciating pain in my ankle and something wet running all over my foot. I looked down to see a deep gash along my Achilles Tendon with dark red, thick blood pouring onto my foot. As soon as I set my other foot down, I saw it- a hand with a sharp surraded knife slashing a gash into my other ankle. The movement was so quick that all I saw was a swift motion, but I felt the pain and soon fell to my knees and collapsed onto my stomach.

I was starting to feel faint and cold and started losing consciousness. I was slowly starting to bleed to death... guess I wasn't going running tomorrow.

Copyright: Amanda Vittitow.

Idea #2

The last thing I wanted when I left Ohio was a relationship. I wanted a change… no, let me rephrase that…I needed a change. I had been stuck in the same Podunk town since I was a child and had gone to college to have the experience- thinking it would change something for me. But after the same parties, the same situations, the same thing day after day, I had finally had enough. I packed all of my stuff into my car and headed for home, but when my exit for home came up- I kept driving.

In front of me stood nothing but open interstate and the clear, blue horizon in front of me. I had no idea where I was going or what I was going to do when I got there, but I was going and that’s all that mattered to me.

As I drove to my destination unknown, I thought about my life… kinda boring, definitely uneventful. I had grown up in the rural area of Southeast Ohio, in the typical house with my parents and siblings- one older brother, who everyone thought the sun rose and set with, and one younger sister, who according to my parents was, “the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.” Gag me. Being the middle child did have its advantages because while my parents were tending to my siblings, I was getting away with things that I never would have gotten away with if I was the oldest, youngest, or even the only child. And as much I pushed the limit and wanted to get caught or punished to get my parents attention, it never happened. I was the forgotten child.

The forgotten child, I thought as I continued to drive. It had a nice ring to it. I mean what would truly happen if I never went home? My parents wouldn’t miss me, my siblings wouldn’t miss me, my roommates back at college definitely wouldn’t miss me. The girl that played her music too loud when her roommates were sweating exams the next day, the girl that came in way too late and clattered around because she wanted Ramen noodles at four in the morning… yeah they definitely wouldn’t miss me.

Copyright: AmandaVittitow.