It was a dark and stormy night, and the door to the east side of the tool shed was banging in the wind. I laid there on the bed wishing I hadn't heard it but knowing I was gonna be the one to get up and go take care of the problem. I raised up and felt the cold on my arms and shuddered. But you know how tough I am, so I got up and pulled on those old cold Levis and finally got out the door.
Old Dog barked when I opened the back door and shook mightily when he crawled out of the doghouse. The warmth of his body produced some steam and I saw he was as stiff as me. We grunted through the gate and headed to the shed. I didn't take a light; I know the way to the shed and, being so agile, I figured I could make it in the dark.
First thing that went wrong was catching my toe on the ruts left by the muddy road and the hay truck. I scrambled around and finally found my footing and Dog was several feet away, looking at me like he wondered if I was sick. The daylight hours make the walk to the tool shed pretty short.The dark and the cold wind were stretching the distance somewhat. I began to hurry.
Dog let out a noise that meant something big was in front of us, and I stopped so suddenly he ran into me. I would have given a quarter to have had a flashlight in my hand. I knew Dog didn't sound like that very often and, when he did, I was sure I wanted to be able to see the menace. I could see absolutely nothing!
Dog went in for the kill, growling and carrying on something fierce. Whatever he had was also squalling to high heaven, and I was plumb stuck where I stood. The fight went on for a long time. It seemed like it, anyway. When the loser hit the trail, Dog was after it for a ways. He came back and we made our way on toward the shed.
I stepped inside the door and flipped on the light. Dog was not bleeding, both eyes and ears were intact, and he was warmed up and panting with his tongue out. I was hot too, but not from fighting with a varmint. I will not admit to being afraid, just sorta stumped! As soon as I saw that Dog was OK, I realized that I was so thankful he didn't reek of skunk oil! We stepped out into the dark again after securing the door and headed back to the house.
It is my opinion, and everyone has one, after the fact and a few minutes to clear my brain, it wasn't hard to figure out the cat a wallering was a big old tom cat. We have had one in the feed room lately, and he is big. I suspect he is older than most live to be and thinks he is part lion and the other half is hurricane.
I have some advice for you fellers who are the ones to go into the dark and mend fences and fix outages: Take a light with you! Walk bravely, don't hesitate and shine your light.
Check your batteries often!
Bill is the pen name used by the Gravette-area author of this weekly column. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 01/13/2016