Chapter 16
Chapter 16 The $6 Panamanian Protector
Hiding in the bamboo forest frightened me.
I was vulnerable.
Nothing happened, yet it felt like an attack.
The PX wasn’t very crowded today.
The extra space felt good.
Watch the kids on the sidewalk!
What does their sign say?
$6 Panamanian Guard Dogs for Sale
“This is not just a puppy,” said the child, who appeared to be under the age of eight.
“I can tell he is special.”
“He is a ferocious ball of barking attitude.” The child’s eyes were intense.
He’s a great salesman.
“I’ll name him Shadow.”
“You take now; you pay now.”
I only had a ten.
He didn’t have change.
I shamelessly used my kids to beg to keep the puppy.
They thought he was theirs.
I knew he was mine.
It didn’t take them long to figure that out.
I slept on the floor with him for weeks.
I drank large glasses of water so I would wake up often to take him out to do his business.
He grew into himself quickly.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped being the one protecting him.
Shadow decided that it was his job to watch over me.
By then, I had learned it didn’t matter what kind of man it was.
They all carried their own kind of danger.
I didn’t trust the one on the far edge of the track.
There was only room for Shadow and me.
Shadow stood between me and him.
His face changed when he saw Shadow.
“Good dog,” I said loud enough for him to hear.
As the man approached, Shadow held his ground.
I fell in behind him.
The man stopped.
I stopped.
Shadow stopped.
Shadow leaned forward into his own bark.
It turned sharp.
Insistent.
I didn’t look like someone who could control a dog like that.
But Shadow didn’t need words.
The leash meant something to him.
It meant I was his.
He made that clear.
Sharp teeth.
Low growl.
Pulling forward.
The man lifted his hands.
Shadow lunged harder.
Three snaps.
Four.
Five.
Then silence.
He meant it.
“Run,” I said.
I was talking to Shadow.
The man didn’t know that.
He turned and ran.
Shadow took off on the track.
I loved my dog.
Most people called him a mutt.
To me, he was safety.
Daniel's Den 