Jack Unleashed

Last night, I was going to let Jack out for the last time before going to bed, and as we were walking out I lost my grip on the leash. (Well, what REALLY happened was, someone put a flier on my door in hot pink paper with "IMPORTANT" written really big on it. I went to grab it and when I turned, Jack ran toward this nice little dude who lives in my building standing at the end of the hallway.)

So Jack takes off, and he realizes, as he's running, that the leash is, in fact, chasing him. It's making a very loud noise as it's dragging across the concrete, and he starts to run faster than I've ever seen an animal run in my life. Granted, I've never seen a cheetah or a tiger in the wild, but this was pretty damned fast. So after he goes toward the little dude, he turns around and passes me (I could barely see him, he was running so fast) and runs toward the front of the complex...out where the STREET is.

I hear that leash handle just clank, clank, clanking away and dragging across the concrete. Jack ran down the stairs, to the front of the complex, and I followed him. (I should mention that I was also running faster than I've ever run, and experienced an adrenaline rush that I've never had before.) I get to the bottom of the stairs, half panicked, wondering which way he went -- toward the busy street, or along the front of the complex? I stop and listen, and hear the leash being dragged toward the front of the complex and I start running after him. There are cars coming my way, I just run in front of them, toward them, so that they see me and slow down.

I have no idea where Jack is. I can't even hear him (or the leash) anymore. But I see this guy standing in the middle of the street, across the way, and he clearly is trying to help. Jack's not responding to his voice, so I start to yell for Jack again (in a voice that is 1/3 panic, 1/3 anger, 1/3 sweet Mommy voice). Jack starts running toward me...with the leash...from the medical building across the street. When he finally gets there, his torso and the leash are soaking wet from urine, because this dog can clearly run like the wind and piss simultaneously.

I walk him back toward my apartment and he is not interested in going back up the stairs or back to the apartment. He's scared to death. And when we do finally get back inside, he stays so close to me and is so sweet that I can't possibly be mad at him for my shin splints. So we lie down and get a really good night's rest.

This morning he was a little scared to go outside, cautious of everything. I guess a little worried that the leash was going to come after him again. On my way out of the apartment, I thought to look at the "IMPORTANT" thing on the door, to see just what it was. A "Chef Chu" Chinese take out menu.

Screw you, Chef Chu.