O’l Grandpaw Hess’ Best Friend

A true story as are all my recounted tales. In fact I just heard it at my lunch meeting! O’l Grandpaw Hess lived in North Louisiana a good ways out in the wide open. Alone and advanced in age he had few visitors these days. The old Screen door was left unhooked, he often used in the late fall when the weather was not yet chilled. The fresh air smelled and felt good. His scared but trusty Marlin .30-30 sat beside the door, always at the ready, and everyone that visited knew it was loaded. No touching. A straight stock saddle gun with no elevator on the rear sight, but he knew where it hit. What a pile of deer he had harvested with it over the years, great memories of iron-skillet fried back-strap.

This morning, ambling toward his easy chair, he saw movement looking out the screen door afar. Stopping to focus, he could see it was a pretty little doe out in the field, across the main road. Scooping up the rifle and levering a round, he carefully leaned against one of the porch posts, taking careful aim. BOOM! The animal leapt high in the air and danced a tight little circle, then down. The 125 yd. walk took a bit, and he didn’t really look around much until he got to the pasture fence. What was this?! He walked over to the downed animal. Heavens! It was a beige dog! He’d shot it through the leg!

The rest of the story spans a long time, but in short, much to his cringe, the limping dog followed Hess home. Out of shame and pity he nursed the old starving dog back to health. Now, it was inconceivable that the dog could be dissuaded to wander anywhere else. Two unlikely creatures, united under impossible circumstances, blessed with each other’s companionship. Merry Christmas!