59: When I Was Little – Three Pearls, THE HAUNT

So, the story about the dog-napping, goes like this…
Greatgramma and Kiddo are going for a walk and they see this big angry bald man yelling obscenities at the cutest small black dog in a little shabby yard. Greatgramma stops Kiddo and they watch from behind a shrub. The poor dog cowers on her belly and lowers her head. Greatgramma notices that the dog has a filthy nose and paws. They think that the dog got caught digging holes, “Which is absolutely no excuse to be acting like a deranged lunatic”, Greatgramma mutters. The man rears back and kicks the dog which yelps and goes rolling. Greatgramma stands straight up and mutters, “Well! That’s enough of that!” The man is still yelling and its tough to understand because he’s slurring his words, but he’s crazy mad. He turns and walks around the corner of a little shabby house. They can hear him yelling to himself about a baseball bat. Greatgramma tells Kiddo to stay hidden while she slips through the fence, snatches the dog and high tails it back out, yelling to Kiddo to “Come on baby girl! We got dog toys to buy!” As the trio runs away laughing into the afternoon sun they can no longer hear the enraged lunatic standing in the shabby little yard.

Kiddo learned that day, when someone is being treated badly, you try to help them. There’s not much she can do from behind bars, but she tries to make friends anyway, with the small hope that Gum might help them in return.