A Single Strand of Hope

In a few short hours today my world drove straight down deep into a pocket of hell.

And I am still in this pocket, with perhaps one or two bits of light streaming down into it. I don't even know if I want to explain it or post it but I am likely to be absent for a few days until this situation changes.

Between 3:30 and 6:15, I was out of the house doing a brief job, which I'll call tech support. When I got home, the dog was gone -- which means some unknown person had to come inside, let the dog out onto the back deck apparently, and the dog, dear Sophie she is to one and all, who is terrified of thunderstorms, was put outside during a thunderstorm, and clawed her way through the railings and she was off and gone and she is not here.

It's a weird locked room mystery - nothing in the house missing save dear Sophie. Did some demon tormentor attempt the theft of the dog and she simply escaped on her own? So it appears.

Gone, gone and all my fault because I was not here. I am not seeking pity on this. Its just the way I feel, and for the next few days each ounce of energy I have is going to searching for Sophie.

I'll be back when I've taken hold of Sophie in my chubby hands and until then all I want to do is search. Writing sucks and leaves ashes in my mouth and my view of all humankind is beyond bleak, as some human attempted to hurt the animal who is kind enough to let me share her home.

It's after one a.m. and I won't sleep much tonight. I don't give two diddly-shits how indulgent it is to have a pet who spends most of her time sleeping on the couch or on my bed snoring and watching TV. Causing harm to Sophie is the same as causing harm to any of my human family and my pacifism evaporates. My affinity for dogs has been expressed in these pages before.

Again, none of this post is meant to elicit your pity or sympathy, but I do feel compelled to explain that this blog is interrupted until I've seen the single strand of hope lead to some exit from this particular corner of ugly.

UPDATE: I cannot say how much I deeply appreciate all the readers and bloggers who've been adding us to their own list of hopes, prayers and good vibes. In fact, I just learned some positive info from a neighbor I talked to so your efforts have had some results -- a neighbor saw her running down a street close to our house, Ronald Drive. So now we know she did escape -- no idea how she got out though - and was running fult tilt during the thuderstorm yesterday about 5:30 or 6 p.m..

But now I know a direction.

She is about a 7 to 8 year old pit bull, all white with a brindle spot on top of her head and on her butt, wears a purple harness and I've added a picture of her. I live on the edge of Jefferson and Hamblen county and she was running in the direction of Jefferson.

She is a very people-friendly dog, but very terrified of thunder and rain, so the past 24 hours has made her scared and shy and she is likely hiding out. She will respond kindly to food and treats and here is a full set of the dear pup on The Editor's Flickr page and you can see what a lovable creature she is, somewhat spoiled and deeply loved by the Editor and me and all our family.

If I do get new info I will add it a new post.

And all of your good will is making a difference in finding her, bringing her home and making me think better of humanity in general. I have called many local officials and friends old and new and they all are doing whatever they can to help. Thank you all very, very much.