Lose of Innocence

He was a young lad of 8 or 9 years. His dog, a collie somewhat smaller in size than the standard you would imagine from the old series Timmy and Lassie, was his constant companion. They went everywhere together.

Ginger, called so because there she didn't bear any of the usual black and white markings, had but one fault, she liked to chase cars. More accurately she liked to chase moving vehicles, cars, trucks, buses, all caused her to be mysteriously drawn to their spinning tires.

She was young, she was quick, no amount of calling could get her to stop her endless pursuit. Once, just for the heck of it, she was timed against the family car. 30 MPH being easily attained, it was probably not the wisest decision to encourage her deep seated urge to run.

Over time she seemed to get the point. After a few close calls, one in particular that literally left her licking her wounds, her ambition to catch every passing car seemed to wane. After loosing a 6" circle of fur and skin from her hind quarter, to the heavily cleated wheels of a bus, she finally started letting cars pass the driveway unchallenged.

One warm summer day, while he was sitting on the hill overlooking the intersection that defined a corner of the family's property, he saw an early 50's Purple Packard 4-door sedan driving towards the intersection. It wasn't from the neighborhood, it belonged to some unknown party from who knows where.

His dog Ginger was calmly walking on the side of the road, as the heavy car approached from behind. With a clear view, he watched it all from his vantage point some hundreds of feet away. She was completely minding her own business, not even aware the car was approaching.

Just as the car was about to safely pass her by, the passenger side door swung open. With a thud his constant companion tumbled off into the deep ravine like ditch, and lay motionless in the weeds.

From that point on, childhood visions of a world where people respected others because it was the right thing to do was forever tainted. This unknown person, with no reason for malice, had taken something very precious from this young boy. More than losing his dog, his innocence had suffered a mighty blow.