All in a Day's Walk - Is it Murder?

It's amazing what type of adventures we can come across when walking a dog first thing in the morning. Lunging forward like a fired torpedo, Skippy pulled his leash and me into a dance across the lawn like a leaping ballerina. When he finally calmed down, I was so thankful that it was too early in the morning for any of our neighbors to have witnessed this graceful escapade.

Then we headed down the street, stopping at every second house to greet the trash cans along the way with a spritz here and there at the favorite smells of garbage. Skippy is never at a loss for such comments. The silence of the morning was soon broken with canine annoucements of our approach... a yip yip here and a yap yap there. House lights flicked on one by one. And Skippy smiled with a tongue hanging out from the side of his mouth like he finally accomplished his sought-after task of awakening the community at large.

Eventually, cars began to weave their way past us along the road as we meanadered through the neighborhood. Bird songs sweetened the sounds of the morning on a perfect spring day. Then we rounded the corner. Suddenly, we heard something very strange.

A low-pitched howl vibrated through the air -- long and loud. It stopped momentarily and began again. Skippy's eyes widened as my heart skipped a beat or two. We paused for a minute as the noise penetrated our brains. Then came a blood-curdling scream like none other I've ever heard. What in heaven's name could this be-- oh my God -- somebody was getting killed!

The sounds stopped again, but Skippy and I were paralyzed and couldn't move any further. We looked at each other dumbly, and his eyes seemed to be saying: "Mom, do you think we should call 9-1-1?" I would have, but my cell phone was at home. What could I do?

Then from the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of something very revealing. And I witnessed first-hand the source of the mystery. A moaning sound came again in chorus with a wild and loud screech -- as a parrot and a hound watched us from the window!