Betsy!

Our dog, Betsy, has been missing since yesterday. In some ways Robert and I say, "good riddance", she's been such a bad dog lately, running away when we call her to come, getting up on the dining table and scarfing down our sandwiches, barking in the middle of the night at the faint sound of cow bells in the field outside (the cows roam at night) Still, she is Allison'dog and she will be heartbroken if she's lost, so today Robert and made lost-dog flyers and posted them up and down the San Ignacio boulevard.

We drove the neighborhood looking for clues to her disappearance. If she were dead on the road we'd have found her since here no one seems willing to remove dead animals. For nearly a week I passed a bloated calf on the side of the Transpeninsular Highway before it finally disappeared. If she's dead in the fields or desert there's the vultures to give me a clue. Already I'm scanning the skies. More likely she has been picked up by a passing motorist. In that case it remains to be seen if the person is a good samaritan or a doggie abductor.

When I opened the refrigerator a few moments ago I instinctly reached for the water pitcher to fill Betsy's empty bowl nearby. The sight of her half-eaten kibbles made my heart sink. I want my dog back.