Raja Arrives at Rainbow Bridge

We angels spend so much time trying to comfort our parents after we leave we often forget others are mourning us, specifically our siblings, who are far more likely to follow us into the dark than our parents are.

Pocket knew I was sick and didn't mourn me when I was gone but concentrated on aiding my grieving parents.  River, after two months, still looks for Pocket but she loves being an only dog.

Other dogs don't adjust as well. One of them, Raja, arrived at the Bridge this week after suffering from a myriad of issues none more significant than a broken heart after losing her brother Logan.

Through many adventures, Raja was Logan's sidekick, and despite watching Logan deteriorate before her eyes, she was still stunned when he passed.  Each day she would check his bed and other favorite spots, but her brother never appeared.

When Logan went to the Bridge, he took part of Raja with him, which proved to be vital. Raja was never the same dog after Logan departed.

She became part of the world-famous lab pack at four years of age. When her first mom could not take her when she relocated, the woman picked Moma Wendy to care for Raja, and she could not have chosen more wisely.

Raja had a tumor on her tail when she arrived. Mama Wendy is a  firm believer that once a dog enters your life, it is there for good, and she paid the hefty vet bill, so her latest baby was healthy.

Thus began a wonderful life filled with swimming pools, visiting friends, dog parks, and a significant lifestyle change when the pack moved from the Arizona desert to rainy Washington.  She did it laughing all the way.

She even won the heart of the legendary Smoochy, who she married before the angels called him to the Bridge.  Her husband would surely be one of the angels awaiting her arrival.

When Raja, aided by her mom, passed from one side of the river to the other and gained immortality, Smoochy, holding flowers, was waiting next to his mortal brother-in-law's namesake Brody, Hattie Mae,  Lily, Hobo, Tommy Tubes, Leo, her brother Dodger, her beloved Logan, and many more friends. When she arrived, Smoochy gave her the flowers and put one delicately behind her ear, and then she hugged Logan sniffed, and cried, communicating more than they could have using words.

Then, after a knowing nod between them, the Labbies ran off together. They spent hours going over hills, through fields, and fording rivers with three hearts beating as one like they had done in their glorious youth. Then they joined their friends for a welcome to the Bridge feast.  With full tummies and hearts, the trio began to devise a way to reach their mom through dreams.  If anyone can do it, the Labbies can, using their power of three.

The Power of Forgiveness

 

 

 

As you know, minions are terrible humans worth redemption but must first serve angels until they redeem themselves. We are assigned humans who abuse dogs, and it is up to us to determine when they can become angels.

    Since I arrived at the Bridge, Cecil has been my top minion. I found him to be diligent and trustworthy. When he was mortal, I was shocked to find out that he left his dog tied to a tree in a blizzard and the poor creature froze to death. He certainly deserved being a minion for a long time. I didn't think I could ever look past his transgressions.

    Every year the minions are reviewed to see who should become angels. If I judge that they have exorcised all the traits that made them fail as a living human, I agree to let them go. What I look for is for my minions to tell me what they did was wrong. This is where Cecil failed, insisting what happened to his dog was not his fault.

    Cecil's review came up this week. I didn't want to waste time asking questions and pushed forth the most critical inquiry. Was he responsible for what happened to his dog, Max? "No, I am not," he said. I was ready to close the hearing when Cecil had a witness, and Max entered the proceedings. 

    He introduced himself and asked that I release his father from his duties. I inquired if he was guilty of the charges, and Max admitted that Cecil had left him outside in a storm, and after a harrowing night, the dog shed his mortal coil and arrived at the Bridge.

"But it wasn't his fault," Max insisted.  

I asked how if Cecil had left him outside in a storm, he wasn't responsible. "What I mean is he didn't do it intentionally. Sadly,   Cecil doesn't know any better."

I told Max that ignorance was no defense of the law.

"Whose law?" he rebutted. "Are we ruled by human law? Or because we are higher beings, are we above their rules?"

I wish I had known Max when I was representing dogs in private practice. He was a first-rate litigator. I asked him how judges like me were supposed to determine if a minion was cruel or ignorant and when their sentence should end.  

"You shouldn't," he said confidently. "It should be up to the dog who the minion wrong to decide if they should have forgiven him.  Many offenses are so abusive and evil there will never be forgiveness, but this isn't one of them, and I forgive him. "

"But should we leave the perpetrator's fate in the hands of their victims?" I wondered. "If humans did that, every suspected wrongdoer would be sentenced to death."

"That is why I give thanks each day. I am not a human."

I had never heard a case brought forth with such wisdom in all my years of being a judge. I only had one recourse. I put Cecil's fate in Max's paws.

Cecil forgave his dad, and I ended his time as a minion. Cecil suddenly changed into a bald, thin, feeble-minded human. He ran to Max, hugged him, and begged forgiveness for which Max gladly granted, and then together they walked into the setting sun once again, man and dog.

A hearing often concludes with a judge learning something, but this one sure did. I would rely on the wronged dog to decide a minion's fate from this day forward because dogs are the wisest and most forgiving creatures created.

The only downside was that I lost the minion who ironed my robes perfectly. It would take months to train another.

I do suffer for justice.

The Man Who Lived Alone

 

 

Just because you arrived at Rainbow Bridge doesn't mean you want to socialize with the other angels.  Some people are just better off on their own.

High up in the mountains is a house the no one visits occupied by a person to whom no one talks.  Many angels have tried, but none of them has been successful.  It was time for another to try, and I thought it should be me.

"It shouldn't be you," Pocket said.  I asked her why.  "You are a lot to deal with and rather impatient.  To approach a hermit, you need someone passive, like me.'

I bit her a hundred kibbles that she would never get past the front door.  We set out the following day, climbing high up the mountain to the shack.  There was a fence around it, and we had to dig under it, which I hated because I had just got my nails done.  

We knocked on the door and were told to go away by someone with a strong, deep voice.  It sent a  shudder down both our backs.  Still, a hundred kibbles are the most that we can bet on anything, and Pocket could not lose them.

We walked around the house.  There was a window open a crack.  I let Pocket stand on my back, and she pulled herself inside.  She carefully walked through the house when she saw a big man, around 240, with a cruel face, sitting in a chair, looking out a window.

Pocket froze, afraid to startle the man.  Then she softly approached and scratched at the chair's leg, asking to be picked up, but was he ignored her.  She activated her wings and flew up, then softly landed on his lap.

I was sure he would slap her out of the sky like a troublesome houseplant, but the man allowed her to land on his lap.  She sighed, shut her eyes, and went to sleep, breathing deeply.  She woke up when the man's cold hand touched her fur.

Pocket stayed still, understanding the calming properties of a soft, warm dog. Pocket stiffened, thinking he would knock her off, but instead, the man's hand began to softly stroke her fur. Pocket patiently waited until the man stopped, then looked up with her deep brown eyes, and asked what was wrong.  The man said he had a son, who he had not been close to, and did not attend when the boy, now an adult, crossed over because he was afraid his son would shun him.

Pocket finally spoke, saying that he would never know unless he tried.  I began frantically searching the angel databases for a soul who matched his son.  I found him and barked to Pocket that we could take the mean old man to his son.

Pocket asked the man to take her for a walk, and when he agreed, pulled him along the trail that I had blazed until we came to someone fishing on the bank.  The man gasped when he saw his son and slowly walked to the water's edge and sat next to his son.  When he recognized his father, he smiled and reached his side to keep the pole he always brought with him in case his father finally joined them.  Pocket and I left the father and son, happily fishing and silently enjoying one another's company.

It was the best of a hundred kibbles I ever spent.

Wordless Wednesday Flashback

 

Beat This Caption

 

You prick

Monday Question

How vocal are you, when are you vocal and do you have conversations with your parents?

 

River:  I bark when I hear noises, when I want food, or when someone comes over.  I talk through growls all the time, and my parents answer like they understand me, which they mostly are. 

Jake Gets Stuck Between a Rock and a Bigger Rock

It all began when Jake thought he saw a kibble.

Jake, a border collie, is a wanderer, something rare in this world of leash laws. Unlike splendid isolation, Jake's family constructed a lovely home deep in the woods.  Far behind them was a cliff overlooking a lake.  Jake loved exploring the area. He likes jumping off the slight cliff into the cool water and swimming downstream, where he can easily climb out.  He thought he knew every inch of the terrain.  But Mother Earth can change her appearance overnight and catch us unaware. that was literally on you Jake's downfall  

Jake was exploring the cliff when he saw something new. A large crack had developed in the ground. Jake sniffed around it. Confident that he had seen something lying at the bottom of the opening, Jake jumped into it.  

He immediately realized he had made a grievous miscalculation. There was nothing at the bottom worth jumping in after, just water that wet his paws. The walls were too steep to climb.  In short, he was trapped.

It was morning, and Jake's parents would not be home until the afternoon to complicate the issue.  Even after they arrived, it was not odd for Jake to be out until supper time. It wouldn't be until after dark that they would realize something was amiss. By then, the crack would fill with water. There was no one to hear Jake's barks. His only chance was prayer.  

The Powers That Be thought that Jake's chances of survival were slim, so they sent the case to Foley, the Miracle Worker. I flew down to comfort Jake and promise help was imminent even if I didn't know-how.   I asked him why he jumped into the crack, and he said he thought he saw a kibble. That was reasonable. When it comes to food dogs, dismiss all logic.

The tide fed the lake, and when it rose, so would the water in the crack. I had little time.  I told Jake I would be back then went flying over the area looking for help. There would be none found on his side of the water, but on the other, there were boats. If one of the owners was home and had a dog, I might be in business.

I found a beagle named Brittany, who was asleep on her dad's lap. I went into her dreams and said, "run to the boat and bark until your dad wakes up and follows."   When I told her a dog's life was at stake, she happily agreed.

Brittany awoke and barked at her dad until he was up too. She scratched at the door to go out, and when she did,  stood on the porch barking at her dad to follow. Curious, he did and then walked after her. He saw Brittany jump on the boat and asked her if she wanted to go for a ride. Her wagging answered his question. As the ship started, Brittany stood on the bow, guiding her dad until they were on the other side. That is when he heard the barking, followed it, and found Jake trapped. He called 911, and soon a rescue team was there for the dog.

It took three hours to free Jake, who ran home and arrived at his parents' door just as they did.

"Hi Jake," his dad said. "Did you have any adventures today!" If only they knew.