From the Desk of Foley Monster: The Story of Abby Which Starts out Sad and Turns Out Happy

I am in charge of monitoring mortal human moods across the world, and when they get too low, I find a happy rescue story to lift their spirits.  Today, more than ever, one of these stories is needed
.  
    This is a tale about Abby.  She had a home, a mom, and a dad.  But the dad, an army veteran, with several tattoos, and who projected an off-putting appearance, was deeply troubled.  One day, he approached strangers, acting extremely agitated, with his uncared for hound on a leash, begging for someone to take the dog.

    He saw a man park his car by the town hall and approached the driver, who he stood head and shoulders above. The man began yelling, and the driver could not understand what the man was saying.  The driver looked down at the cowering dog. He got down on one knee and called for the dog. She didn’t move.

The man grabbed the hound by its fur and yanked her up to his shoulders.  He then began to spin around. The dog trembled. Just before they both crashed to the ground, the driver caught them.  He opened the back hatch of his Prius. The dog jumped in, and the man ran off. The driver looked at the dog, then got in his car, and brought Abby home. 

As the driver left the scene, his car filled with the smell of the dog poop mixed with pee and spoiled roadkill.  When the driver got home, he parked in his garage and closed the door. He opened the hatch, and the dog got out. She stood on the garage floor, trembling. Her hair was matted and hung off her like thick, dirty ropes.  She had seeds, thorns, and dried leaves attached to her. She could not be coaxed into the house, preferring the safety of the garage. The driver decided to let her be. As day turned to night, the dog finally came inside, drank a bowl of water, sniffed around the house, and settled on the living room floor at the foot of the driver’s recliner. 

That night, the agitated man who surrendered the dog to the driver killed a woman shaking the small town where they lived to its core.  The woman, who needed a walker to maneuver, had just opened the door when she was gunned down. The last business the man did before the killing was surrendering his dog.  Who knows what the dog had seen, been through, or why the man needed to surrender the dog before he killed? The only thing the driver knew was that what happened was not the dog’s fault, and in whatever amount of time the dog had left, she would be loved as much as any dog alive.  

It took a lot of love and coaxing, but soon the dog, who was named Abby, became part of the family.  She is smart and sweet. She never has accidents in the house. She has a big yard filled with sunny spots where she loves to spend her day.  She watches the comings and goings of her people and their visitors. At night she snuggles with the driver, who is now her dad, in his recliner, where she licks and snores intermittently.

  She sleeps at the foot of her parent's bed. Some nights she wakes up barking, and her parents wonder if she is remembering something or scaring off some unseen threat. She has befriended all six of her parents’ grandchildren and gotten lots of hugs.

Was there angel involvement in getting Abby away from that terrible home and to a stable one?  Maybe. But the star of this piece is Abby, who has put all the evil behind her and is living her best life.

I hope we all will be soon.