Story Time Wednesday: The Animal Whisperer

I was in Ireland a few years ago with a school group, taking a high school credit and travelling at the same time. We had just gotten to Galway and were going on a walking tour of the city. There are many beautiful things to see in Galway, but the thing that struck me the most was a dog with peculiar blue eyes. The dog was walking along with its owner, and it stopped and stared at me while I looked back, puzzled. I made direct eye contact with a dog.

While I thought the incident was bizarre, I didn’t mention it to any of my friends. Nothing sounds normal about making eye contact a dog. We continued on a few blocks, and came to a stop before crossing the street. I looked beside me, and there was another dog with the same strange eyes, staring at me in the same strange way. This time, a friend turned to me and said, “Courtney, I think that dog’s staring at you!”

I was a little unnerved at that point, but I laughed it off and continued on. We went down another street and came upon a third blue eyed dog! This dog was staring into my soul, I’m sure of it! Again, my friends noticed. “It must be a sign,” said Carly. “Maybe someone is going to die!” I assured her that no one was going to die, though I didn’t like the look of things myself. Didn’t everyone have dogs stare at them in the street?

No one else had. Not one dog had ever stared into their souls.

Even if the three blue eyed dogs were simply the same dog in three different places, it still didn’t explain why it had looked at me — and only me.

I told this story to my mom, and she laughed. “Court,” she said reasonably, “dogs don’t stare at you.”

But as you see, they have and they do! I think I may be some kind of an animal whisperer. I kid you not, I once saw a bird flying, and it turned mid flight to look at me. Do you know what that’s like, when a bird’s beady eyes meet yours? You learn things about yourself you never wanted to know.

Song of the Day: Wrecking Ball by Mother Mother