I lived a very free life as a child. I used to walk from school to home by myself when I was five. I went to Sunnycrest Elementary during this time which was about 2-3 miles from my home.
I would cross Military Way on a big crosswalk with a big light and then wind a bit until I went down a big hill and turned right onto our street. After the turn the third house on the left had a big black German Shepherd who did not like me. It was chained up in the front yard and every day was the same thing.
As I turned onto the street the dog would see me and start tracking me with it's glassy eyes. It would watch me get closer and then as I started to cross in front of its house it would start creeping very low in a path that would intersect with mine. Just as the chain was about to become taut the huge dog would lunge - and make the first sound since it had seen me - a terrifying roaring bark that made my spine tingle and my feet itch.
One day I was walking home and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I generally made a point of not looking directly at the dog as I didn't want to provoke it. So I only noticed that the dog wasn't chained this day when the lunge and bark didn't happen. I looked back to see the dog, low and creeping, stepping off of the curb and into the street. I was horrified. I didn't dare look at it for long and instinctively knew that running wasn't a good option and so I kept walking at my normal pace and just hoped that the dog would leave me alone.
Much like some nightmares I've had where an unseen menace is just behind you - the shepherd took its time walking right up behind me to put its muzzle on my butt as I walked. I took about three steps this way in utter terror when the dog suddenly lunged and sank its teeth into the right buttock. It's fangs ripped into my flesh as it started shaking my entire body left and right. I threw up my hands and started screaming. It was very difficult to keep my feet under me, but instinct said that it was critical that I not fall to the ground.
People ran to my defense and got the dog off of me and walked me home. That last part is a bit blurry because I was in shock.
The next day is still very clear to me. As I walked home again there was an animal control truck parked in front of the house. There was yelling and the dog's owner was telling the animal control officer to get off their property. I stopped to watch as the officer returned to his truck, reached into the cab, and came back out with a rifle. It turned out to be a rifle that shot darts. He took aim across his hood - aiming at the dog on its chain in the yard - and pulled the trigger as the owner screamed louder and louder. The dog nearly immediately dropped to the ground dead or very soon to die.
It turned out that my butt getting munched was the last straw. The dog had apparently killed neighbor cats and bitten other children and the judgement was made that the black German Shepherd with the hard glassy eyes must die.
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