Slide 1: dominoe
I was in-between. Fiercely independent Money saved up. And time before I headed west.
Slide 2: My roommate called. Someone found a runaway dog. Dominoe.
Slide 3: Named her after the damsel in Sharky’s Machine.
Slide 4: Malnourished. Skittish. Afraid of a suddenly raised hand.
Slide 5: We walked in the woods, she always a few yards away, my buddy.
Slide 6: One day, we drove farther, walked in the autumn leaves.
Slide 7: Met an old friend. We chatted about 15 minutes, and I turned around.
Slide 8: She was gone.
Slide 9: I was hours running up and down the trail, yelling her name.
I was worthless.
I could take care of myself, but no one else.
Worthless.
Slide 10: Darkness.
Slide 11: I would camp out.
Return the next day.
I would do that every day, until I found her. Every day.
I cried back to the car.
Slide 12: … and there she sat, waiting for me.
My awareness became a circle of responsibility much wider than myself.
Slide 13: We drove across the country…
Slide 15: … had adventures.
Slide 16: Saw exciting lands.
Slide 18: Made a home.
Slide 19: She parted a few years later.
But I never forgot what I learned that day in the woods.
Slide 20: Dominoe.
