A BORROWED CHRISTMAS

copyright © by Kathy Anne Pippig

It was early in the evening, the day before Christmas. Winter darkness had just settled in, and the canopy overhead was heavy with storm clouds.

As Terrence entered the front door, he paused, as he had done for the last five years, expecting to hear the lively click of nails on polished wood. He'd then turn towards the hallway, smiling, arms outstretched, before bending down to welcome his furry girl, Mazy.

Her happy panted greeting was the sunlight at the end of his workday. But, as the months wore on he managed to stop himself from bending down to welcome her wriggling body in a loving embrace. She'd been gone a year now, but some habits of the heart are hard to break.

A stiff breeze gusted through the entryway. Terrence leaned back on the door to close it just as Tammy, Terrence's wife, entered the room. Noting the sudden look of sadness on her husband's face she hurried over to him and hugged him tightly.

"I miss Mazy, too. She loved Christmas!"

Terrence swallowed hard over a knot in his throat, hugged his wife back, and nodded.

~*~

He first saw Mazy while on a home call for his job with the gas and electric company. He had been looking for a client's address in an older, industrial part of town. He had driven past an auto body parts business and she was running the length and back of the small enclosure she was fenced in. There was no grass in the pen, only dirt and a metal feeding dish. Every time a vehicle drove by, she'd run with it, smiling, tail wagging, until she hit the back fence. She'd then bounce around and run to the other end.

She seemed frantic to find a friend in the passing cars. Her behavior haunted Terrence, so after he finished his home call Terrence drove by the business, hoping to speak with the owners about the dog. The office was closed for the lunch hour.

Before taking off, Terrence took down the telephone number of the business painted on the sign in the drive. When he got back to the office, he dialed the number and spoke with the receptionist. He learned that the dog was kept there all the time and had been there for just under a year. He told the receptionist that should the owner decide to get rid of the dog, he would love to be notified.

Two weeks before Christmas Terrence got a phone call. The owners of the auto parts yard had sold the business. They could no longer keep the Black Lab -- Did he still want her?

She came home as an early Christmas gift. She had never been given a name. Tammy named her Mazy.

Tammy had hung a stocking on the mantelpiece for Mazy and come Christmas morn, Mazy quietly walked over to the stocking filled with doggie goodies, and gently pulled it off the hook. She then padded over to Terrence and held the stocking out for him.

Terrence thought Mazy wanted him to pull the little doo-dads out of the stocking so she could have them. So, Terrence took the stocking and laid it on the floor, tipping out some of the contents, then sat back so he could watch Mazy enjoy her gifts.

To his surprise, Mazy nosed the items that had rolled out, back into the stocking, then she gripped the stocking in her teeth and handed it back to Terrence. Her gift to him. When Terrence glanced over at his wife they both chuckled while at the same time blinking back happy tears. The true gift that Christmas had been the welcoming of Mazy into their family.

Blessed with a loving, giving spirit, Mazy became a therapy dog, at the urging of Mazy's obedience trainer Doug, he was a close family friend and suggested that Tammy bring Mazy along on one of their visits. Doug volunteered with a group from the local SPCA and every Thursday they visited one of the convalescent hospitals.

Mazy was a natural in the art of caring and brightening the spirits of the residents they visited. She became very popular and had attracted the interest of the press. During the Christmas holidays, a year ago, a local television station did a special on therapy dogs and the benefits they bestow on patients in care facilities. Mazy was the star of the show and had garnered an even greater following.

Soon thereafter, while Terrence was at work and Tammy out on errands, someone had broken the lock on the backyard gate and when Tammy got home, Mazy was gone. All efforts to locate her were unsuccessful and the loss of their gentle fur girl was a wound that dug deep into their hearts.

~*~

Tammy nudged her husband. "Come on into the family room. I have two steaming mugs of chocolate and Irish Cream waiting for us in front of the fireplace. You can build a fire and we will relax before the guests arrive later."