Faithful Friends

[Guest guest]

Faithful Friends

Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together. Like

pairs of dogs you can find in most any neighborhood, these two loved each other

and played together so often that they had worn a path through the grass of the

field between their respective houses. One evening, Brownie's family noticed

that Brownie hadn't returned home. They went looking for him with no success.

Brownie didn't show up the next day, and, despite their efforts to find him, by

the next week he was still missing.Curiously, Spotty showed up at Brownie's

house alone, barking, whining, and generally pestering Brownie's human family.

Busy with their own lives, they just ignored the nervous, little neighbor dog.

Finally, one morning Spotty refused to take " no " for an answer. Ted, Brownie's

owner, was steadily harassed by the furious, adamant little dog. Spotty followed

Ted about, barking insistently, then darting back and forth to a nearby empty

lot, as if to say, " Follow me! It's urgent! " Eventually, Ted followed the

frantic Spotty across the empty lot, as Spotty paused to race back and bark

encouragingly. The little dog led the man under a fence, past clumps of trees,

to a desolate spot a half mile from the house. There Ted found his beloved

Brownie alive -- one of his hind legs crushed in a steel leg hold trap.

Horrified, Ted wished he'd taken Spotty's earlier appeals seriously. Then Ted

noticed something quite remarkable...

Spotty had done more than simply lead Brownie's human to his trapped friend. In

a circle around the injured dog, Ted found an array of dog food and table

scraps, which were identified as the remains of every meal Spotty had been fed

that week! Spotty had been visiting Brownie regularly, in a single minded quest

to keep his friend alive by sacrificing his own comfort! Spotty had stayed with

Brownie to protect him from predators, snuggling with him at night to keep him

warm and nuzzling him to keep his spirits up.Brownie's leg was treated by a

veterinarian and he recovered. For many years thereafter, the two families

watched the faithful friends frolicking and chasing each other down that

well-worn path between their houses.

~ Laland

~ " We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a

little of each other everywhere. " ~

~ " If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the

entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand. "