Spectacular things happen to us when we don’t expect it. A spectacular thing happened to me. Something so unbelievable that I had to write it down for others to enjoy, critique, or otherwise cut down – but for the record, every word of this is true.
I like to jog. Many people do. I jog three times a week, usually. One summer morning, though I seldom jog in the morning, I was out with our dog Mr. McCoy, Bones for short.
Bones and I were jogging near the waterfront, as we liked to do on warm some Sunday mornings. Today was no different.
The mid-August weather and the early morning sun had baked the sidewalk to a warm radiance that made the morning extra warm even considering it had only been daylight for a couple short hours.
The sky was a clear blue, and I recall it vividly. There was no clouds in sight and the wind gently brushed tiny water droplets against my face as my feet swept over the sidewalk in their steady prance.
I was feeling especially nostalgic that day. I was thinking back to the day I got married and how much has changed since then. The days flew by, weeks , months then years, and I’d been reflecting on the years passing when I heard it.
Bones immediately started to bark as the sky grew darker. A fellow jogger jogged by, oblivious to what was happening, and as she passed I looked up to see a plane plummeting to the ground.
Bones started to tug at his leash. He wanted to get out of there. So did I!
I looked ahead as the plane started to descend directly above me. I knew if I didn’t act quickly it would surly land right there on the sidewalk and crush the woman who’d just jogged past.
I bolted into action and ran after her, screaming my lungs out. I didn’t really scream anything that could be recognized as words. When you’re that afraid you just can’t form a sentence, word, or even anything more than a noise. It sounded a little like “GET DOWN!” mixed with “DUCK!” and “PLANE!” but I cannot attest that any of those words were actually formed by my lips. Bones only howled. A low, alarming howl that I’d never heard before, nor heard since.
I knew she didn’t hear me and in a final act of desperation I dove at her hoping to throw her to the ground and out of immediate danger of a plan crash landing on her.
