bobquasit: (Default)
bobquasit ([personal profile] bobquasit) wrote2005-12-09 11:13 am
Entry tags:

Irony

I didn't write about this when it happened on Wednesday evening. But it's the reason I stayed up until midnight that night and finished "Grand Obsession".

Normally Teri and Sebastian pick me up at the train station in the evening. But on Wednesday I made a mistake and thought that I was having dinner with my father and brother that night. For some reason I completely forgot that my father had called a few days earlier and told me that we needed to reschedule. Brain glitch, I guess.

Anyway, Teri had left our car at the station for me to drive home (her mother drove there with her and took her out to dinner after). I took the train home; it was earlier than I had expected (if dinner had happened), but later than normal. I found the car, hopped in, and headed home.

As I was driving, my cell phone rang.

Now, I want to emphasize that I did NOT take my eyes off the road. I reached for the phone in my jacket pocket, but was still watching the road.

And that's when a large dog, probably a golden retriever, jumped out from between two parked cars - straight in front of my car.

I slammed on the brakes, but I'd had almost no warning at all; he'd jumped out less than ten feet from me. Fortunately I wasn't going at all fast. But still, I hit him fairly hard as I came to a stop.

I don't think he went down; if he did, he was up again almost instantly. He was carrying something large, a newspaper I think, and he didn't drop it. But there was a definite "thump", and I'm pretty sure I felt the impact. But the tires didn't go over him; as far as I can tell he was simply hit by the front of my car (and when I checked it later, the car had no damage at all).

Whether he was knocked down or not, a second later he ran across the street, across a yard, and was out of sight. I saw no sign of a limp. So I started up again and drove home.

I was pretty upset, although I'd have been much more upset if I'd killed him or visibly hurt him. Teri called back, and I didn't treat her well; she told me I should call the police, and I freaked out a little.

By the time I got home I was a little numb and pretty angry. There's a leash law in that town, damn it! Dogs are supposed to be tied up.

And then I thought, "suppose that the dog's owner was just a boy, like Sebastian, who wanted his dog to run free a little?"

That made me feel bad, I can tell you!

But on top of it all I was weirded out; the similarities between what had happened and "Grand Obsession" weren't shockingly close, but they were close enough to freak me out.

And that's why I ended up staying up and finishing the story that night. I couldn't sleep.

Incidentally, I didn't post about the dog on Wednesday or Thursday because I didn't want to bump "Grand Obsession" from the top of my journal; didn't want to do anything that might reduce the chance of getting some feedback.

Pathetic, huh?