Friday, August 13, 2004

Dogs

For the past few mornings, I've been taking the train to school. This means, apart from having to wake up at such an ungodly hour, I have to walk through this pathway by the canal. It's usually quite nice and quiet but yesterday I heard this familiar jingle of metal that causes me to involuntarily freeze.

It's not like it's the sign that a serial rapist is round the corner. It's more the sound of a metal collar on a dog. I must first state that I like dogs. I've had dogs most of my life and am pretty much fine with them. It's just the odd few that send this shiver down me and make me feel like I need to swallow a scream and resist the urge to run.

When I was four, a dog leapt up and bit me just above my right eye. All I remember of that incident was the dog leaping, me screaming and screaming and my dad rushing out to see what in the world was going on. Most of the time I'm fine about it but I realise as I get older, I seem to worry that more dogs are like that stray one that bit me.

So the last two mornings, seeing not just one dog, but a pack of them, all with that similar jingling collar has scared the beezeejus out of me. I walk past telling myself not to bolt and not to be scared. Thank goodness the dogs have been on both occasions too busy sniffing each others' butts to bother with me, but all the residual fear from that experience 24 years ago still seems to surface with the taste of bile into my mouth.

I wish they didn't bug me because I wrinkle my nose at people who shriek when they see dogs and I don't want to be one of them. I would still like to have a dog- a labrador or a golden retriever. I guess I just don't like dogs that are not mine and are well, "stranger" dogs.

Ondine tossed this thought in at 12:41

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