Adventures with Rey

Our new house has three gates. One of them we use for most of our trips, one we hardly ever use, and one that we use about once a week to take the trash out for pick up. I’m kind of a fanatic about keeping them closed because given the chance, Rey will escape and I’d like to avoid him getting lost or hit by a car.

Well, tonight I let Rey out to go to the bathroom while I was getting Michaela ready for her bedtime routine. Mike was gone, working. After the requisite amount of time, I went to let Rey back in… and he was gone. I knew immediately what had happened: Mike took the trash out to the curb earlier and forgot to close the gate, and Rey took advantage. But it was almost 8:30, Michaela was in her jammies and we were alone. I couldn’t very well just leave her here while I scoured the block looking for our dog!

I told Michaela to get on her shoes, grabbed a flashlight and my phone, and we hit the street. I started calling Rey and Michaela put the pieces together. “Rey is missing? REY IS MISSING?!?! OH NO!” And she promptly broke into hysterical tears. She was so upset! Practically inconsolable. So there we are, it’s dark out, the ground is wet from the day’s rain showers, walking along in our PJs. Me calmly calling Rey, Michaela freaking out.

We get about 2 houses down when we see a flash of fur. It was Rey! Michaela screamed, “REY!” in a plaintive emotional outpouring of love. It sounded a bit strangled, like she was overwhelmed with relief. So much so that some of our neighbors came out to see what was the matter.

Don’t mind us. We’re just… walking our dog?