Picking up from yesterday –
Finally! The part of the story where I almost died. Oh my gosh. How can I even settle down enough to write words on this blog? I almost died today! That’s not even the worst part! I almost died in the worst possible way. (Okay, one of the worst possible ways.)
I’m drenched, absolutely completely drenched in water, holding a heavy sweatshirt that’s drenched. I’m walking along the road with only two streets ‘til I hit the neighborhood where we started. I’m so very close to being finished.
If you’re not sitting down, do it now. This is the part where our hearts are gonna stop.
I hear a person say, “No. Stop.” They are saying these words in the manner that you’d say them to an animal. That’s right, an animal, such as, oh, I don’t know. A dog, perhaps? I look over, and there are these two huge dogs at the edge of this person’s driveway. They’re looking right at me and starting to come toward me.
The owner is not in my sight!
Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Please don’t. ‘Cause this is super scary. This isn’t a huge marathon or really busy street where I’m gonna be saved by a stranger or ambulances standing by, or something. This is just a quiet neighborhood with no support. There’s no medical staff here, no spectators, nobody to save me.
I freeze in terror for probably a tenth of a second as thoughts rush through my head. “Is the owner going to be able to get control of these dogs? Which way is the best way to run? Should I somehow try to actually go toward them to be close to the owner – the only other sign of human life out here right now? Am I even supposed to run at all? Is it safer to stay still?”
The dogs start picking up their speed. I’m outta there! I take off – like an Olympian. I am telling you. My strides were long and gorgeous. I ran faster than anybody has ever ran, ever. All the while, I am screaming – absolutely, desperately, top-of-my lungs, tears in my voice – “HELP ME!!!!! HELP. ME!”
I start running toward the neighborhood. I just want to see another human. Maybe, just maybe I can be let in a house quickly enough to slam the door before the dogs get in. That’s probably not going to happen. But, perhaps I can ring a doorbell right before I start being mauled to death. Maybe that person can call an ambulance in time to save me. Or maybe they can make some kind of big distraction, scaring the dogs away. I’m pretty sure finding a person is my best bet at survival.
I turn toward this neighborhood – and I see a huge gate! That’s right. I’m running toward a gated neighborhood. Except, good news. There’s a gate in the road with nothing on either side of it. No walls to climb. I just have to run around by the gate. Of course it may have been better if there actually was a wall so I could try to leave the dogs behind, but I’m not positive I could’ve jumped over one. I’m pretty short…
So, I’m running by the gate. I see the first house. I see one of the dogs bounding behind me out of the corner of my eye. They’re getting so close. I’m already imagining what it’s gonna feel like when they knock me to the ground. I imagine the paw laying on my shoulder (they are as tall as me on their hind legs, ‘cause they’re freaking huge!), and knocking me down. I tell myself that when that happens, no matter what, just stay face down. Don’t let them get at all those important things in the front of your body (your face (the moneymaker, of course), your heart (kinda need that)).
And when they knock you down, cover your neck with your arms to try and protect your carotid artery. They can tear your arms to shreds, but if they get your neck, you are gonna bleed out. Quickly.
As I’m making my plans for how best to escape death while being attacked, I’m still running. (The plans are being formed at warp speed in my head.) In the first house, I consider climbing on top the car in the driveway. But I figure, these dogs have really long legs. They’re gonna be able to jump on the car. I’m just going for the doorbell.
As I turn the corner onto this person’s porch – silence. The incredibly loud, bone-chilling barking has stopped. What happened? This is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.
(Spoiler: I still don’t know exactly what happened…)