Under The Lamp Post – Chapter 12

Out and about on my evening walk with Diana, I was busy minding everyone’s business, keeping a watchful eye on stuff. We stopped in front of Duchess’ house so our humans could talk  about the neighborhood BBQ party tomorrow.

I wagged my tail and nodded at Duchess. We quietly stood side by side in the grass along the sidewalk. The golden sparkle was returning to her beautiful eyes. I was relieved to see her getting better so quickly. Duchess meowed to let me know she had something weighty to ask.

Sasha, can you do this tomorrow night? Share with me what is in your heart, not what you think I want to hear. Decide if your doubts are strong enough to stop our plan. No Pal will think less of you if you don’t have confidence you can pull this stunt off.

Duchess gently asked the one question I couldn’t bluff my way to an answer. All I knew was I had to try. I tipped my ears backwards, my brow furrowed deeply and waggled my head up and down.

I think so, Duchess. I have to succeed – for Tristan – for the future of the neighborhood.

Satisfied that I understood I was the one who had to make our plan work, that success or failure rested on my fur, Duchess climbed the steps to her house and settled in her porch chair. With a faint sigh and firm nod of her head, she reminded me of the one thing I never seemed to remember.

You are not alone anymore, Sasha.

I needed Duchess’ reminder that I have Pals I can now rely on. They would all be near to support me as much as they could. Every Pal in the neighborhood has unique skills to help me succeed. To humans, their skills might seem small or even go unnoticed, but in our world it every little action made big actions possible.

Most importantly, she reminded me that the humans I live with now are not like the old ones that threw me away. Diana and Michael will look beyond the “what” I’m going to do and focus on “why” I did it. That small difference could be the difference between life and death for Tristan.

I headed home, setting my anxious feelings set aside for now. Temporarily important – right now thoughts – cluttered my head. You see, after my nightly walk is when I practice my sit/stays. If I show off my listening skills and follow the instructions, I get my favorite crunchy cookies that are bigger than my paws. Really, they are amazing. No sense in worrying about tomorrow right now. I needed all my focus to score extra cookies.Tucked away in the shrubs along the way home, Forbi narrowed his eyes and flashed his tail. He’d overhead Duchess and me. He had all the information he needed. Saving Tristan was minor compared to his dream of being the most valuable Pal and our neighborhood hero. I passed by, focused on treats, completely oblivious to his scheming, just as he planned.

Based on what you learned in today’s post, the Pals want you leave us a message with your answers to the following questions:

1. Have you offered support to anyone that needed it so they could do something really hard?
2. Tell us what you said to them?
3. How did your support help them?

Leave us your thoughts and answers to these questions in the comment section below. We promise to read every single comment and will even answer some.

Paw & Wing & Tread Hugs

Don’t Forget To Share our story with your friends. The Pals need everyone’s help to save Tristan.