A Perfect Stranger

Anita turned to me, "What do you think, honey?"

"It sounds like he's spiraling out of control."

"Do you think we need to worry?" she asked.

"Monday, we'll call the police and update them, but I don't think it will do any good. We'll keep an eye out for him. Maybe, since he's lost his job, he'll move...in the meantime..." I grinned.

Anita jumped back on the bed, "In the meantime, I think you were about to give me oral pleasure."

"Your oral, my pleasure," I remarked as I playfully grabbed her legs and hiked them over my shoulders - her new favorite position for receiving cunny, and mine for giving it - no stiff neck.

After a lively lovemaking session, we made a late breakfast, then settled into doing chores. Anita worked in the house, and I went out for some overdue maintenance, including cleaning the patios and decks.

I was at the side of my house cleaning the breezeway pavers between the house and garage with a pressure washer and didn't hear the vehicle come up my drive until I heard the screech of metal from worn brake pads. I was certain it wasn't FEDEX or anybody, so I killed the pressure washer to go check. As I came around the corner of my house, I saw an older model Ford F-150, and a short, stocky guy with dark, stringy hair, coming around the front of the vehicle. His face was gaunt, sallow, and set in a grimace; his eyes were wild. The hair went up on the back of my neck. I'd never met or even seen Anita's ex-husband, but the truck looked vaguely familiar. I was sure it was Daniel.

The next couple of seconds happened in slow motion.

The man was approaching the front of the house and his hands went behind his back. His left hand was obviously lifting the tail of his shirt. I couldn't see what his right hand was doing, but I immediately assumed it was going for a gun. I instinctively charged for him. At that moment I didn't think I could reach him before he got the gun out, but I had to try. At the same time as I started for him, he saw me and turned my direction as he continued to pull the gun from his waistband.

In the next split second, I saw a blur out of the corner of my left eye. Chance, who had been sleeping on the front porch, leapt off, clearing the steps, charging for the intruder. As I closed the distance between us, Daniel brought his gun from behind and around to point it at me. He was yelling something, but it was muted to me, like I had cotton in my ears. As his arm came up, he leveled the gun at me; I could see his finger was on the trigger. I wasn't going to reach him in time.

At that moment, Chance hit him broadside, leaping and hitting him chest high, knocking him off his feet. Simultaneously, his gun went off - BLAM! I saw the muzzle flash at the exact moment that Chance hit him. As he hit the ground I dove for him, landing on his chest. Chance, who had tumbled past him, scrambled back on his feet and attacked, grabbing his right arm and biting down. The gun went off again as Chance sunk his teeth into his upper arm and started shaking it furiously. Daniel screamed bloody murder. I scrambled to get ahold of his gun hand, and the gun went off again. With both hands, I grabbed for the gun and fought to disarm him. As I grappled with him, he was hitting me in the side of the face with his left fist. I heard Anita scream my name.

I yelled, "GET IN THE HOUSE; CALL THE COPS!"

I got hold of his wrist with my right hand, and the gun with my left. I wrenched the gun back as hard as I could. It went off again as I broke his grip on it, and I continued to twist it back as hard and as fast as I could. His trigger finger snapped and the gun went off again. He screamed louder. I jerked the gun free, and rolled to my left. Daniel was now trying to hit Chance, trying to get him to release his arm. I rolled to my knees, scrambled around Chance and jammed the barrel of the gun in his ear.

"Stop hitting him or I'll blow your fucking brains out!"

He stopped, but screamed, "AGHHH, GET HIM OFF ME!"

"Chance, stop! Chance, good boy, stop, sit, stop!" I continued as I grabbed at his collar. Finally, he released his arm, but didn't back up, straining at his collar. I held onto him and kept the gun jammed against Daniel's ear.

"Don't fuckin' move!" I huffed, somewhat out of breath.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Anita on the porch talking on the phone, "...a gun, shots were fired...I don't know, just get here!...Yes, send an ambulance...Yes, I'll stay on the phone..."

"Anita, come hold Chance...Sit boy, sit!"

This time he sat. Anita came and grabbed his collar.

As soon as she had him, I backed up a couple feet and told Daniel to roll over on his stomach.

"My arm!"

"Shut the fuck up! Fuck your arm! Roll the fuck over!"

He rolled onto his stomach, and that's when I noticed a lot of blood coming through his shirt sleeve. It was soaked.

"Shit," I thought, "I can't have him bleed to death," though I was tempted. It would probably have simplified things.

With one hand I loosened my belt and slipped it off.

"Don't move or I'll loose the dog on you!" I commanded, laid the gun down, then secured the belt on his upper arm, pulling it tight. I picked the gun back up with my free hand, and we sat and waited for the police to arrive.

Anita, who was holding onto Chance, said, "Chance has blood on him."

"Yeah from this piece of shit's arm," I replied.

"No, I don't think so. It's on his back leg."

I rolled Daniel over and handed him the belt, "Here, keep this pulled tight...and don't fucking move!"

As he grabbed the belt, I let go and quickly scrambled around to look where Anita was pointing, at Chance's right rear leg.

Blood was seeping out of an obvious gunshot wound. I got incensed, crazy angry. I flashed red hot.

"You son of a bitch, you shot my dog! You shot Chance!"

I went over and jammed the gun against Daniel's forehead, "I'm gonna blow your brains out you piece of..."

"TRAVIS! NO!" Anita yelled.

"I didn't mean to shoot the dog, I didn't mean to shoot the dog..." Daniel pleaded, over and over.

As fast as my anger flashed, it subsided. I realized my whole body was shaking. I also realized I could have accidentally shot the prick. I aimed the gun away from his head.

We heard the sirens in the distance, and within a minute, three Sheriff's cars came flying up my drive.

The first deputy that reached me had his gun out, "Lay down the weapon, sir," he said sternly, but calmly.

"Yes sir," I replied as I laid the gun on the grass.

"Who's the homeowner?"

"I am."

"And who's this?"

"My ex-husband," Anita replied.

Next, the deputy asked, "Whose weapon is that?"

"It's his," I answered, "He drove up, got out of his vehicle and fired at me. My dog attacked him and I got the gun away from him. And um, he's bleeding pretty badly. My dog got his arm," I informed the deputy, as the others came up, surrounding us.

The ambulance arrived shortly after the Sheriff's deputies. The EMT's attended to Daniel, then one of them checked out Chance for me.

"It looks through and through. I think he'll be okay. There's no arterial bleeding. I'll wrap it, but you need to get him to the vet."

Then he looked up at me, "Sir, you're bleeding from your ear."

I felt my ear; it stung like hell, and my hand came away with blood on it.

"Her husband was punching me in the side of the head when I was struggling with him."

He stood and examined my ear, "No, you've been shot. A piece of your ear is gone." He called a deputy over, "He has a gunshot wound," he informed him, pointing to my ear.

"Attempted murder," the deputy said, almost to himself, "Jeff, come take a picture of this man's ear."

I guess in my adrenalin charged state, I never realized at the time what had happened. And now it hit me, just how close I came to dying. If Chance hadn't hit Daniel exactly when he did...I wouldn't be here. I started shaking again, and got lightheaded and started to swoon. I sat down on the front steps, and Anita and Chance joined me.

"Are you okay, honey," Anita asked.

"Yes, just got a little dizzy. Chance saved my life...If he hadn't attacked your ex when he did..."

Another deputy came over, took a picture, then the EMT bandaged my ear.

"You'll need to go to the hospital and get that taken care of," he informed me.

"After I get Chance to the vet," I replied.

We sat on the front steps as the deputies interviewed us. Anita was sitting beside me with her arm around my waist. I was holding Chance between my legs, head on my lap. The interviews and documenting of the scene took about a half hour. They found the bullet that had grazed me. It was lodged in the wall of the garage.

As soon as they were done with us, we loaded Chance into my SUV and headed to the animal hospital. The vet there cleaned the wound, stitched it up, and splinted the leg.

She explained, "Chance is going to be fine. The bullet missed any bone. I only splinted the leg to keep him from putting pressure on it for now. The muscle needs to heal. He's a tough dog. He never once even whined when we were treating him. I only had to give him a mild sedative."

"Yeah, we didn't even know he was shot, until Anita saw the blood on his leg," I replied.

"I gave him a shot for the pain, and a dose of antibiotics. Here are some pills for pain. I'll want to see him in a week to check on things. In the meantime, try to limit his activities. Otherwise, he's ready to go."

"Okay," Anita spoke up, "now you're going to get your ear looked at."

"Thank you, Doc," I said to the vet, then turned to Chance who was panting and seemed nonplussed. "Come on, big guy, let's get you home."

"After we go to the hospital," Anita stated, emphatically.

"Okay, right," I replied.

We went to the hospital, and they stitched up my ear. It was no big deal. I'll have a small, permanent scar, but considering what could have happened...

EPILOGUE

It's been five months since the 'incident'; fall is just around the corner - leaves are just starting to turn, and the weather is beginning to change.

Chance healed up fine, eventually to the point where he doesn't even limp.

Daniel was convicted of attempted murder, among other charges, and sentenced to a minimum of ten years.

Anita's friend, Stacey, and her boyfriend, Pete, just got married in a small ceremony, with Anita as her maid of honor, and I as the best man. Pete and I have become friends, and like me, he's an avid fisherman. The four of us get together for camping and fishing.

Anita and I are engaged to be married next April. The day after we tie the knot, we're going to start trying to have a child, or maybe, children. We'll play that by ear.

As I sit here on my back deck with Anita, watching the sun set behind the trees, I hearken back to a cold, rainy night in mid-December, on a lonely stretch of road when I met a perfect stranger - perfect in every way.

THE END