A duck, a dog and my heart

I've always considered witnessing my pet baby duck being devoured by a vicious tomcat as the worst thing I've ever had the misfortune of being present for. My nine-year-old heart nearly failed that day, just as I had failed my fuzzy companion.

Nineteen years later, I almost had to move that incident down to second place on the list...

Tyler and his brother Dan are harvesting in a field just adjacent to our houses. Tyler unloads the corn from the combine into Dan's grain cart; Dan hauls the picked crop to our grain bins for storage.

Today, after assembling Tyler's lunch, I walked out to the bins to deliver my culinary creation to Dan for him to relay to Tyler. As I made my way back towards to the house, Dan lurched the tractor into gear, beginning his trek to the field. I turned to see if I was out of his path - I was, but Bobbi Sue (our 12-year-old lab) was trotting from the other direction, directly into it.

In the next five seconds, the following occurred:

1. I realized Dan was fumbling with the controls and did not see Bobbi.

2. I realized Bobbi was at her highest rate of speed and would never make it if Dan didn't hit the brakes.

3. An image of Bobbi being squished like a bug under the enormous tractor tire flashed through my mind.

4. I began jumping and waving my hands, realizing that yelling was ineffective against the roar of the tractor.

5. Dan looked up, tapped his brakes, and by some miracle, Bobbi sped up. I honestly had no idea she had another gear.

6. Dan and I exchanged a relieved glance.

7. I stopped and placed my hands on my knees, recognizing that my ticker felt exactly as it had the day my duck fell victim to the food chain.

And so to thank her for not taking away my duck's title, Bobbi Sue is getting extra treats and scratches today. I think the ordeal might have affected her heart, too.......