The setting seemed innocent enough at the time. We were having brunch with some friends at a café in a tranquil, patrician neighborhood just west of downtown. (What could be more disarming than brunch?) Some girls from a local crew squad had just moored their boats down by the canal and sauntered in for a meal. (What could be more placid and genteel than crew?) In came a nice family with a small toddler, ribbons in her hair and a bright pink heart embroidered on her miniature t-shirt.Only the trained eye could recognize the foreshadowing of doom and peril, a threat that was waiting, literally, right around the corner.
Ignorant of the latent danger, the toddler’s parents had dressed her in a pair of tiny leather shoes with soles that somehow were designed to let out a shrill squeak with every step she took. And she was prone to wander, so as they waited in line to order, incessant squeaking echoed throughout the building. She tripped over the rope line. She started crying. But, otherwise, everything seemed to be going fairly well . . . the family ordered at the counter and disappeared to their table in another part of the café.
Then, it all went awry when the toddler and her family started to leave, opening the door to walk out past the patio seating. All at once, the looming terror became brutally apparent -- right outside the door, there was the attacker, waiting, lurking: a Basset hound tied to the leg of a table. Though I don't get the sense Basset hounds are generally known for their vicious instincts, as soon as you introduce a couple small leathery things that move erratically and squeak at just the right pitch to bring out the bloodthirsty beast in any domesticated animal, all bets are off. The hound lunged forward, the child began to scream, pandemonium ensued. For a moment there, it was like time stood still. Thankfully, just milliseconds before the gore and bloodletting, the pet’s owner stepped in and restrained the dog when she realized that he had mistaken the child’s feet for play toys. But it was a close call, nonetheless.
1 comment:
In a just world, the toddler would have been tied to a table outside and the dog would have been allowed in the restaurant. I suspect the dog would not have cause as much disturbance.
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