She had been cooped up in the house since the attack. I’d been back in my routine the day Dr. Lee had removed my stitches and given me the go ahead. It had been a few weeks for me, but since this was Maggie’s first day out, I’d decided to take it slow. When we approached the house where the dogfight had been, I stopped. Usually, I would cross the street and run by it without giving it a second look. Today, I decided to exorcise the demons that haunted me. Maggie sniffed the grass, and I wondered if she could remember any of it. Did animals remember trauma? It didn’t seem to affect her. At first, I hadn’t thought it had affected me either. But it had. I used to run with both ear buds stuck in my ears and my music blasting. Now I only ran with one, leaving the other ear bud dangling behind me. My pepper spray was now in my pocket instead of clipped to Maggie’s leash, and when I ran, I scanned the area like I was the Terminator. I wrapped my arms around myself when I approached the area where Maggie once lay bleeding.
