Golden Summer

Last summer, I had moved into my first home, and there was nothing for flowers in the front of the home. I had to add some color and make things feel more homely. I had gone to the greenhouse and bought many beautiful flowers ranging from Morning Glories, Daylilies, and Snap Dragons. Since I never had a flowerbed before, I thought I would buy flowers that beginners can grow and not have to worry about killing them.

I had cultivated the dirt bed first and brought up some beautiful black dirt to plant these flowers into. I worked all day on my first flowerbed. I even had these different-sized rocks that came from my parent's house out in the country. My folks had passed away a couple of months before my move, and I wanted to bring something from home to my home; it was a piece of home.

As I was planting and sorting out the flowerbed, I had heard something off in the distance, but I wasn't sure of what I heard, so I kept on working. The noise happens again, and this time I knew it had to be coming from my yard, but I wasn't really sure where this noise was. I stood up and listened for the noise again. I heard it again, like crying or a whimpering noise of some sort. I walked around the yard, listening carefully for that sound. I walked up to my porch stairs, and that's where I heard the sound coming from. I bent down slowly onto my knees and pushed the tall grass and weeds out of the way. What I had found blew me away; I couldn't believe what I had found.

Beneath the porch stairs behind the tall grass and weeds was this little puppy. The puppy was the one making these little cries, and that's what I heard. I slowly spoke to the pup with a soft, gentle voice, not to spoke the pup as I reached out to grab the pup and pull the pup out slowly and gently. When I pulled the pup out, I noticed something strange; the pup was lying on many beautiful Marigolds for the bed.

Imagining to myself how this pup could have made this bed of flowers, and why Marigolds? There were no signs of Marigolds when I was moving in, and the flowerbeds were empty but only for weeds and grass. It was a mystery. I didn't worry about it at the time; I was more concerned about this pup under my porch stairs crying. I felt so bad for the pup.

I take the pup into the house and run a nice warm bath, petting the puppy and calming the pup down; I didn't want the poor thing to feel afraid and be scared of me. I grabbed a couple of bowls and filled one with water, and the other I had some dry cat food from the last pet I had, but the kitty had passed away, and I never got rid of the food. I would get another kitty after the move, but instead, I have a new friend. But the cat food was what I had at the time, and that was going to have to work until I went to the store for something that was for dogs.

While the tub was running; I gave the pup some fresh water and food; I had noticed that the pup had some tag around its neck. It was not like a normal metal tag, it was more like a cloth one, and it had writing on it. I took the collar off and grabbed my glasses to read this message on the collar. The message said, "To who finds this pup, know I can no longer take care of him as I am really sick and going to pass away; this pup needs a home. Please take care of him. Thank you." After reading that sad message, I place the collar on the ground and hug the pup.

My heart was filled with sympathy and sorrow for the person and the pup. While having all these emotions going on, the pup needed a bath. He was filthy from being under the stairs, and I'm sure the pup would appreciate having a clean coat.

I placed the pup in the tub and starting washing him; he was so happy. I was so happy as well; we both had a good time bathing. It brought made our friendship after that. He was so small when I found him, and the pup needed a name; I wasn't sure at the time what to call him, but after the message I had read and the time spent together, he was more than deserving for the name "Angel" as it suited him really well.

He was my best friend after that day; since I didn't have children or my folks anymore, I was pretty much alone, just like Angel was. We did everything together, as it was a routine after a while. We would watch t.v together and have dinner together. We even slept together, but he would sleep on the other side of the bed at the foot of the bed; I must be a kicker when I sleep. So that is where he slept.

We'd go for walks in the morning and after work, also when we went out to the dog park, we were best pals. After about a year, Angel and I were outside running around the yard and playing with his ball when we both heard this huge bang and crashing noise. It wasn't from my house; it had to be from one of my neighbors. Angel took off running, and I was right behind him. I followed him up to this house about half a block down from mine, and it was in flames.

I thought about if someone was inside and if anyone had seen the people that lived there if they came out or even at home. My heart was racing, and I was just sick to my stomach. I was so worried about what happened. One other neighbor came running out and was yelling that they had called 911 and the fire department was coming. Then they were yelling that there was someone home and they didn't come out.

I couldn't run inside with all the flames, but I did hear someone yelling for help. I was so scared, and I didn't know what to do. Out of the blue, Angel takes off, running towards the home, and runs inside. I was yelling for him to stop, but he kept on running. He ran inside and was inside for a few minutes. I could hear him barking, and I called out to him a few times. I was in tears at that point.

I could still hear him barking, and then suddenly I saw him. He was pulling on someone towards the front door. Without even thinking, I ran over to the door and helped Angel. I grabbed the lady that was inside and helped her to her feet. Angel was barking and acting frantic at that moment. I petted Angel for saving the lady out of her home in flames and told her that 911 was on the way. I asked her if there was anyone else in the home, and she said no.

We all backed away from home and heard the fire department coming down the street. The lady was in tears and told me that she was sleeping when the fire started, but she was upstairs, and the fire had started in her basement. She had no idea what happened and was terrified. She was so thankful for Angel coming to her rescue, and she wanted to call her husband and tell him what happened. I gave her my cell phone, and she called him at work.

I was sitting on the edge of the sidewalk with Angel and was still frantic, it took a little bit to calm him, but after a few minutes of talking calmly and petting him, he calmed down. The lady walked over to me and handed me my phone. The fire department already was working on the fire and telling people to back right up. One of the firemen walked over to the lady and wanted to talk to her. I grabbed Angel, and we walked back to our yard. We both sat on the front step and watched from a distance.

The lady walked over to us, and Angel ran up to her and was licking her hand, the lady bent down and hugged Angel and was crying. I walked over and told her that things would be okay, and thanks to Angel, she was safe. The lady hugging Angel stood up and hugged me. I was crying a bit only because I was so happy that she was alright. She told that her husband was coming home and they were going to be leaving to stay with family once her husband had checked things out with the police and the fire department.

I was curious as well as to what started the fire. It took them a few hours to calm the blazing home, but they worked hard and put it out. An investigator was looking over the burned-out home, and they told the lady that it must have started from her laundry room. The investigator told her that it must be from the lint trap, and that caught flames. She did tell the investigator that she was doing laundry at the time she went to lay down.

The whole thing started from her dirty lint trap. It caught on fire and went up fast. She didn't know about the fire until it was too late. The fire alarm didn't go off either. She was curious as to why that didn't work, but her husband told her that he would change the batteries but forgot to pick up some new ones. They didn't tell the investigator that, but she did tell me.

I couldn't believe that if it wasn't for Angel hearing the lady call out for help, she probably would have died in that fire. I was so happy with Angel saving the day, he received treats that day and was even in the newspaper.

Some days go by, and the couple comes over to talk to me, they brought dog treats and toys for Angel, and they told me that Angel is their guardian angel and that they owe him so much for saving the lady's life. The lady was so grateful, and Angel was the hero. I couldn't have asked for such a great best friend. He was the hero, and I am so glad that I named him Angel. It really did suit him well.

The couple tried to give us money, but I wouldn't accept it. If Angel could talk, I am sure that he would tell the lady that he was more than welcome for saving her from the fire and that knowing he could help her was better than money. He saved her life, life is priceless, and nothing can buy that. Nobody could hear the lady calling out, but Angel did, and he did what he did because he knew that someone needed help, and we humans couldn't do anything about it.

Dogs have that sense when there is danger, and he knew before anyone could even react, he knew what to do. He's my hero, and I will never forget that day, nor will that couple. They eventually rebuilt their home, and the neighborhood went back to normal. The only thing that changed was that everyone knew Angel, and the whole neighborhood would pet him and talk to him every time we were outside.

He was everyone's guardian angel, and that was the best feeling in the world. The pup that I saved from under my porch stairs was a hero. The marigolds were from his other owner's flowerbed, and he had pulled some out and went on his own to find a new home when his owner passed away in their home. The pup needed to find a home and somehow ended up under my porch stairs. He must have carried a few marigolds in his mouth while looking for a new home. I didn't have that kind of flower in the flowerbed when I moved in. So I am assuming that Angel had brought them from his other home.

When I figured that out, I had gone out to buy a few marigold plants and planted them for Angel. He knew what those flowers were and would smell them every time we went outside. He would even lay by them when I was doing some yard work. I will always treasure my best friend, Angel. He brought so much happiness to me and to our neighborhood. He was the hero.