But when you love a dog, the future flashes before your eyes: a future without him. It was only an instant, but it was an instant of a big black abyss—a future with no waggy golden tails, no happy panting grins, no golden paws scrambling across my wooden floors and dashing across my lawn and leaving big muddy paw prints on my porch. And then, in the next breath, he was licking my face, digging his claws into my thigh, panting into my ear. I wrapped my arms around him, shaking, my face buried in his fur, breathing in his warm, doggy scent with my whole being.“Are you okay? What happened?”“Yo, dog! Hey, man!”“Whoa, guys!”I yelled, “Stay back!” I flung out a hand in the direction of the voices and Paul and Jess, followed closely by Pete, came to an abrupt halt. I said, breathing hard, “We’re okay; it’s okay. The trail is out. Stay back.” Paul extended his hand to me and I grasped his forearm, pulling myself up. I held Cisco close by the collar and we edged ourselves back onto the solid part of the trail.
