Heidi and Penelope (Randyjw; May 4, 2016)
Heidi and Penelope were rescue dogs and have already lived their lives here on this earth. It has been many years now since they have been gone, but I thought they deserved a little tribute as I was thinking back on their lives and of a particular episode, which was really extraordinary.
You always hear some miraculous tales (tails!) about animals helping or saving people, and this is one of them. I am changing the relationships and some of the specific details a bit, for various and sundry purposes, but the story is essentially the way I recall it.
Heidi was a dachshund, and they are very intelligent animals. Penelope was either a bichon frise or a maltese, I believe. Heidi was russet and black, in color, and Penelope was a curly-haired fluff of white. She was also very smart, but was residually wary of people, as she had been severely abused as a puppy.
Both dogs were well-cared for since they were brought home from the shelter from where they had been adopted. They were rarely leashed, but I guess nobody had complained and they were never a nuisance. They just went out and did whatever doggies do when they go for walks in their safe, and mostly secluded, neighborhoods. They had a big backyard to run around in, and led, I would fathom, what would be considered fairly comfortable lives.
Heidi was vivacious, so sweet, and understood whatever you said to her. She had alot of energy and was considerably rambunctious. Penny was a subdued individual, and preferred a quiet petting curled up with you on the floor. She would shy away from most people, but since I always took the time to single her out and spend most time visiting with her, she allowed me to be her friend.
Heidi knew I loved her, and didn’t have one iota of envy that my time was given so exclusively to Penelope. She was okay with it; probably even thankful that I did so. Heidi was such a good girl and suffered the lack of attention and affection so that her little “doggie sister”, Penelope, could experience the healing, in some small way, of making up for human inadequacies, which had been lacking since her birth, this time around in her new home.
At the end of the long backyard was a lake, and a small dock of wood set at the edge of the water and the shore. The dock was in need of repair, as it was in the process of decay and had some dry rot, as well. We had all just been down to see it, and the guy I was with, who was looking at the dock to determine its state of functionality, wound up stubbing a smoked cigarette on top of one of the posts.
The little dog, Heidi, whom I called “Heidi-ho”, came up to me when we had gone inside the home, and swung her body quickly in a half-turn, indicating I should follow her. I looked at her to make sure that was what she wanted, and, indeed, it was. In fact, it was a major race, and Heidi made that perfectly clear. I followed her to the back door, opened it for us both, and raced after her as she headed for the dock.
There, where Heidi had led me, I found what had turned out to be a catastrophe in the making. The post had started to smolder, catching fire from the cigarette butt that had been extinguished, none too well, on its surface. Heidi had averted a disaster, which could have had deadly consequences for all of us. We doused the post with water from the lake, and were saved by a little German-breed dog! History does have a way of coming full circle, after all!
Thanks to her fast action and quick thinking, Heidi, a rescued dog, became our very own rescuers, instead! “Hey, ho! Heidi-Ho!”
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