SHORT STORY: A Dog’s Tail

A blue deep-v fishing boat emerged from the mist and quietly glided up to the dock. Water lapped gently against the shore, making the only sound for miles.  An elderly woman with white robe, orange ski belt and impish smile tied a yellow rope to the post. An old dog wagged his tail and waited patiently.

“Why hello there old friend. It’s good to see you again.”

The dog, with gray around his muzzle, barked once and wagged his tail harder.  Dogs could see much more than people.

The lady clumsily got out of the boat, knocking her tackle box askew. “Oh drat. Stripers are running this morning. Been using a spoon. Of course, Heaven is catch and release.”

She had been dead for five years, but to her it seemed like she had been fishing for only an hour.

That particular dock along the Tennessee River was a portal between two worlds.  Locals had said that this spot, so beautiful and idyllic, seemed like Heaven. Little did they know, they were almost right.

“Is he in trouble again?”

The dog barked. But this time his tail wasn’t wagging.

She sighed. She had watched over her grandson since he was just a child. He was a good boy, a talented boy. But his heart wasn’t in the right place. He was full of anger.  The young man held onto a grudge with a death grip.

“Well, then, I guess it is up to us to save him.”  She picked up her old dog, causing him to glow slightly. “We have work to do.”  The two of them headed off to save a soul.

Patrick Karns was talented man with an eye for business and the uncanny ability to step on people on his way to the top. At the age of 30, he had started a computer software company. He had truly achieved the American Dream and then proceeded to turn into a nightmare.  His wife hated him. His kids were indifferent.  People at work feared him.  Now at the age of 45, he was like an EF-5 tornado, Patrick left nothing but destruction in his path.  He had put the word suck in success.

He sat alone, drinking a very expensive glass wine thinking lovingly of the most important person in the world: Himself.

The little dog barked at the back door.

“What do you want?”

The dog growled. “Shhh, the grandmother said. Honey catches more flies than vinegar.”

The dog barked again, this time with a smile and a tail-wag.

“OK, OK.” Patrick got up and walked over to the door. He reached down to smack the dog and when he touched the dog’s head, he clutched his heart.  Pain shot up his arm. But it wasn’t a heart attack.  It was something else. Something more powerful.

The grandmother held the dog by the tail and watched as her grandson experienced the full fury of Hell.  Demons and fire consumed his soul.  Every cell of his body felt nothing but anger and pain. He screamed as his hand was stuck to the little dog.  She reached and grabbed her grandson’s hand and pulled him back from the brink. Then she showed him a glimpse of paradise. The little dog felt a pleasant warmth surge through his little body.  It was a love indescribable in human terms.  But it was easy for a dog, though.  Kindness. Service to others. Love.

For a brief moment, Patrick saw his grandmother standing there, smiling and holding her little dog. And then she faded away.

“What was that?!?” he said to his dog. The little dog just barked and wagged his tail.  He felt the tingle in his hand where he had touched the dog’s head. It was a strange warmth that began to spread up his arm into his soul.

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Six months later, the small boat sailed back to the dock.  The little dog once again waited patiently. “Why hello there!” a voice called out of the mist.

The dog barked and wagged his tail.

“Yes, the fish are biting. They always bite in Heaven.  How’s our boy?”

The dog barked again and wagged his tail vigorously.

They walked back up the hill to the cabin and the grandmother was pleased at what she saw. Her grandson was a different man.

The family sat together and were playing a game.  The smartphones were in another room as they laughed and played.  He was off from work for a week to take time to start a new charity and had taken some time out of his schedule for family night.  He still was a powerful businessman, but like Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Day, he now took an interest in the lives of his employees. He had empowered them and in the process changed their lives for the better, too.  His wife looked over at him lovingly. Six months of counseling had provided some major breakthroughs in their marriage, too. Patrick Karns believed that the true secret of success was to have a servant’s heart.

The little dog barked at the door.

Patrick got up and opened the door. “Hey pal!” he said lovingly as the the dog stood at the door. He credited the dog for changing his life.

As he reached down to pet the dog, he thought he saw his grandmother again.  “Nah,” he said, as he went back to the game.  The dog ran back out into the yard.

The grandmother and the dog went back to the dock. As she began to untie the boat, she beckoned to the pup. “Want to go fishing with me? ” The dog barked, wagged his tail and leapt into the boat.

She said, “Hold on. We’re going to catch a boatful today.”

And on a beautiful Tennessee evening, an old lady and dog sailed gently into the mist.