Jeremy waited patiently for my prayer. I felt like explaining to him that animals were suffering everywhere. But I prayed, "Dear Lord, thank you for caring about all your creatures. Please send someone to care about Old Red. Please hurry."
Jon added his prayer to ours, and I backed out of the parking place. I was crying now, but Jeremy and Jon didn"t seem to notice. Jeremy let down the window and called out cheerfully, "Bye, Old Red. You"re gonna be okay. Someone"s coming to get you."
The tired old dog raised his head slightly as we drove off.
Two days later Larry called. "Guess what?" he said.
I was afraid to ask.
"Your dog"s well."
"What . . . how . . ."
There was unmistakable excitement in Larry"s voice. "Yesterday a vet came in to have his hair cut, and I asked him to take a look at the dog – "cause you were about to drive me crazy. He gave Old Red a shot, and he"s all well."
Weeks passed, and Old Red continued to live outside the barber shop. I sometimes wondered if he ever noticed the dogs that came to the stores with families. Dogs often leaned out of car windows and barked at Old Red, or just looked at him. Old Red didn"t pay any attention.
Jeremy continued to talk about the someone whom God would send to love Old Red.
One day we rode by the barber shop and Old Red was gone. I went in and asked Larry where he was.
Larry started grinning as soon as I came in. "Strangest thing happened yesterday. This lady brought her little boy in for a haircut. I didn"t know them. New in this area. She asked about the dog. Her little boy had a fit over him. When I told her he didn"t belong to anyone, she took him home with her."
"Larry, don"t tease me."
"I"m not teasing. I"ll give you her telephone number. I got it. She was going to take the dog to the vet for shots and a bath. Man, you should have seen Old Red sitting up in the front seat of that Buick. If I didn"t know better, I"d say he was grinning. Happiest dog I"ve ever seen." I walked out of the barber shop quickly. I didn"t want Larry to see me crying.