Daniel has never been much of a pet person. He is a rather cerebral person, often lost in his own thoughts. He is very intelligent--IS a rocket scientist, as a matter of fact. Daniel does like to take walks in the great outdoors, though. He claims it always helps him, especially if he is wrestling with some engineering concept. Daniel's home is located on the west edge of town and his backyard looks out over a hilly pasture. There is a rutted farmer's trail that he likes to walk along, which he does almost every day. Pets were never an option for Daniel. Too messy, and he always felt that he was too preoccupied a person to properly look after any animal. Then one day, on one of his long walks, Daniel came across Werner. Daniel had just come over the top of a hillock and there below him in one of the ruts lay a big yellow dog. It was laying on its side and not moving. Daniel thought maybe it was dead, but has he approached, the dog--a Golden Labrador--raised its head and looked up at him. As he reached the Lab, Daniel noticed its tail beating weakly in welcome. Approaching, Daniel could not see anything obviously wrong with the dog, but when he got to it and knelled down in front of it, he saw some blood on its right side down low just in front of the hind leg. The poor dog had been shot by someone--and at fairly close range from the look of it. The creature's hody was oddly twisted as well. Daniel suspected some damaged bones were likely. Staring down at the dog, which looked up at him expectantly, Daniel wondered about what kind person could shoot any dog. The dog seemed to be sweet tempered. A whimper broke the dog's silence. It looked up at Daniel as if begging for help. There was no inner turmoil. No conscious decision take responsibility on Daniel's part. He had instantly determined that he could not walk on by this suffering creature. There was only the problem of what to do for it and how. Daniel stroked the dog's head, scratching behind its floppy ears. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cellphone and called the animal control. Being the weekend, there was only a recorded response. Disgusted, Daniel dialed Information and got the number of the local humane society. It was almost quiting time, so Daniel was mildly surprised to have a person answer. It was a woman, who said her name was Mary. Daniel told her the situation. Mary asked for directions in how to reach Daniel and the dog. She also took his phone number, said she was going to can a vet and would call back immediately. Mary was as good as her word. She called back in a few minutes and said the vet was on his way. It seemed far longer, but the Vet arrived within twenty minutes in his pickup. Mary was with him. Together the three of them put the dog in the pickup's bed. While the vet got into the cab, Daniel and Mary climbed into the bed to stay with the dog. It was a bumpy ride back to the Vet's clinic. "Hang on, Werner!" Daniel told the dog as he steadied it. (Later, he realized it was the first time he called the dog by that name.) The vet was able to save the creature's life and repair his broken bones as well. Werner always walked with a slight limp, but was otherwise a happy, active dog. There was no question Werner not coming home with Daniel. As it happened, almost a year later Daniel married Mary. Werner was their "best man" at the ceremony. You have to wonder about some people! __________________________________ Thanks for looking! Jeremy CREDITS: Scene: from "Atmosphere" in Vue6 companion volume. Vehicle: 1971s's "U-bee" (Renderosity). Figure: Predation's "LoREZ Casual Man" (DAZ). Terrain and eco-system: Robin Kleb's "Terrains with Tracks" (Cornucopia3d).