FROSTY

3. Most Memorable Rescue Part 3 Smiley Coyote

Frosty continued, "Well, when I found him, he was also in pretty bad shape. I got that poor creature up into my truck and drove to the animal hospital. The vet at the hospital thanked me for bringing the animal in and assured me they would painlessly euthanize him.

"I don't know why I was surprised by what the vet said, but I was even more surprised at myself when I asked the vet if he could fix the creature. The vet said it was an expensive operation and he really wasn't supposed to work on wild animals. I told him I'd pay for it and take care of the dog as my own pet, and no one needed to know any different. I swear when I said that the creature looked at me and smiled. Not just the fake smile on his muzzle, even his eyes had the twinkle of a smile.

"Well, the dog survived the operation. The vet told me he'd need several weeks of rehabilitation and warned me that people had tried to domesticate coyotes before. It was not impossible, but it rarely lasted more than a year before the animal heard the call of the wild. The dog gave me fair warning. At the vet's words, he gave me that knowing smile again.

"So, I named him smiley. He stayed with me for two years. They were the best two years of my life. He went everywhere with me. I began driving a snowplow that year and he would ride with me sitting next to me in the truck. It would really freak people out when they'd realize he was a coyote." Frosty chuckled, but I thought I glimpsed a tear in his eye.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"That animal changed my life," he said with a catch in his throat. He cleared his throat and continued, "So, that was my most memorable rescue. After a little more than two years Smiley finally heard the call. It was the hardest day of my life when I realized he was leaving, but I knew it was for the best. Wild animals are meant to be wild and free. I swear, he looked up at me with one last smile to say goodbye before he ran off into the forest. It was as if he had some place he had to be." At that point Frosty choked up and stopped speaking.

Lupin came over and put his hand on Frosty's shoulder and said, "He did have some place to be." Abandoning his dialect Lupin explained, "In 2003 I ran into Smiley again. I'd been trying to survive looking for gold 'cause I'd exhausted all my other options. I was on my last legs when Smiley the pup I'd rescued five years earlier found me and showed me to the gold mine that was my salvation. His debt to me was paid in full."

I think everyone was teared up now. I can't say for sure because my own allergies had my eyes teared up. Anyone who has had to part with a best friend knows how we all felt then.  Damn allergies.