Even now, all these years later, I think back to that summer day and can’t quite believe it really happened, but it did. I don’t know how, but I know what I saw.
I was eleven years old and living with my mother. We’d recently moved into a small house that sat about a half mile down a secluded road through a wooded area.
Back in those days, it was still relatively safe to be a kid walking alone. The school bus would drop me off and it would be on me to make the walk to my house. It didn’t bother me much, except for Zeus. I’m not talking about the mythical god. This Zeus was a massive Rottweiler.
Zeus belonged to our closest neighbor, and I’d have to walk past their place on the way home. In truth, as intimidating as he looked, Zeus wasn’t an aggressive dog. In fact, he was a sweetheart to everyone. I’m not sure why dogs scared me so much. Maybe something bad happened to me as a baby that I can’t remember. Regardless of the reason, even the sight of a dog would send me into a terrified fit.
Zeus seemed to pick up on my nervousness and, to his credit, would generally leave me alone. I remember going to my neighbor’s house once for some kind of party when I was seven or eight. The dog was making the rounds to everyone, accepting scratches behind the ears and belly rubs. When he walked up to me, though, I screamed and began to cry. My Mom was very embarrassed, so much so that we left early because I couldn’t calm down. I remember Zeus just stood there and watched me freak out, like he was trying to figure out what my deal was.
From that time forward, Zeus and I did our best to stay out of each other’s way. Even so, every time I walked past his yard, he was there watching me. I got past the point of freaking out when I saw him, but my heart always began to pound and I walked a little faster.
Now, to that horrible summer day. Like I said, I was eleven. The bus dropped me off and I started my trek down the secluded road. It was a warm and muggy day, enough to make me sweat under my backpack as I walked, even along the shady lane. After a few minutes, I was getting close to Zeus’ house, and I crossed to the other side of the road to put more distance between me and his yard. I actually hadn’t seen him in a week or so, which was unusual and kinda nice.
A branch snapped behind me and I looked back in the direction of the sound. Animals were pretty common out here, so I didn’t pay it much mind. I didn’t see anything among the trees, so nothing to worry about.
After a few more steps, the distinctive sound of leaves rustling made me look back again. This time, I saw a shape. It moved too fast and disappeared behind a tree before I could pick out exactly what it was. I stopped and stared in the direction of the shape. For a few seconds, nothing moved.
Then, I froze with fear. A face peeked out behind a tree, a human face. It was a man with a scraggly beard and trucker hat. I was old enough to know about stranger danger, and I immediately knew that something wasn’t right. Our eyes met and his gaze was something I’d never forget. I didn’t know how to describe it back then, but years later I would identify it was predatory.
We just stood there for a moment, staring at each other. It felt like all my limbs weighed 1,000 pounds, like when you’re trying to run away from a monster in a nightmare. This was no dream, though.
The man stepped out from behind the tree and took a step toward me. That was all I needed to break me out of my trance. I turned and ran as fast I my legs could carry me. My backpack bounced around on my back, throwing off my center of gravity and threatening to knock me off balance.
I heard heavy footsteps gaining on me from behind. I would have screamed, but I was too scared even for that. Any second, I knew that I’d feel his hands grab me. The footsteps were right on top of me now. I could hear his ragged breathing and swore I felt it on my neck.
It was then that my uncoordinated eleven year old legs betrayed me. My feet got tangled up and I tumbled to the ground in a heap. I landed hard on my wrist and felt a shock of pain shoot up my arm. I rolled onto my back and looked back. The man was only a few steps away from me. He was close enough to see the sweat on his forehead. His eyes were wild and a horrible grin spread across his face.
This was it.
From the other side of the road, a new set of footsteps arose. The man and I both looked over to see a huge black shape thunder toward us. It was Zeus! He came at us so fast that I didn’t have time to process what was happening.
The big dog launched himself at the man, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying. The man scrambled back to his feet and squared off against the massive dog facing him. Zeus didn’t go after him again, he just stood there between me and my attacker, growling like I’d never heard him growl before. Ever muscle in his body was tensed and ready to react if the man took a wrong step.
After what seemed like an eternity, the man began to back off. He kept his eyes on Zeus as he backed away slowly, his hands up in front of him. When he’d moved a few yards away, the man finally broke and ran into the woods.
When we were alone, Zeus stopped growling and turned to face me. He didn’t approach, just stood there and stared at me. I stared back, gasping for breath. I have to say it, even though Zeus had obviously just saved me life, I was still petrified of him. I think he saw my fear and that’s what kept him from coming up to me.
In due time, I painfully climbed to my feet. My wrist was throbbing and my knee was bleeding. As I started to limp toward my house, I kept my eyes on Zeus. He just stood there, watching. When I got about a dozen feet away, he took a few steps toward me. I froze, which made him freeze as well. When I started walking again, the dog again watched me go for a moment before following me. Eventually, as the fear began to evaporate from my brain, I realized that Zeus was walking me home.
Eventually, I made it to my front door and looked back. I expected Zeus to be there, but he was gone.
I told my Mom what happened and she called the police. When the officers showed up, I gave them a description of the man I saw. I told them that Zeus, the neighbor’s dog, had run out and stopped the man, and they commented how lucky I was. No kidding, I remember thinking.
I got myself checked out at the hospital. Thankfully, the wrist wasn’t broken, but I was bruised and sore. That night, as I lay awake in bed all night, I couldn’t stop replaying the entire attack in my mind over and over. At eleven years old, I couldn’t imagine all the horrible things that might have happened to me, but I could dream up enough to make me sob into my pillow. If Zeus hadn’t been there…
The next morning, I knew I had to go see Zeus. It might sound crazy—he was a dog after all—but I felt like I had to thank him for saving me. I was still scared, but determined. With my Mom by my side, we walked to our neighbor’s house. Zeus wasn’t in the yard. We knocked on the door and my neighbor answered. My Mom had already told her about what had happened, so I got a concerned, but gentle hug as soon as she saw me.
I told our neighbor that I was there to give Zeus a treat for what he did. A strange expression spread over her face.
“Honey,” she told me, “I’m afraid that it couldn’t have been Zeus. We had to put him down two weeks ago.”
“No,” I said confidently, “it was definitely Zeus.”
She gave me a sad smile. “Plenty of dogs around here. It must have been one that looked like him.”
A part of me wanted to argue further, but something stopped me. The neighbor and my Mom talked for a while after that, but I can’t remember a thing they said as I replayed the attack again in my head. I knew what I saw. When you’re as frightened of something as I was of Zeus, you know what they look like. It was Zeus.
Unfortunately, as far as I know, they never caught the guy. From that time forward, my Mom was always there at the bus stop to pick me up. Sometimes, as we drove alone the road to our house, I’d look out into the woods and get a creeping feeling up my spine that the man was out there watching me. Other times, I’d get the feeling that Zeus was out there as well, and I’d find that a comforting thought.
Today, I’m in my thirties and married with two kids. I still remember that day when I was almost kidnapped. I’ve tried to dismiss the idea that the ghost of my neighbor’s dog saved me. Sometimes I can almost convince myself that it was just a similar looking dog, like my neighbor said, but then my memory plays and I see Zeus standing there, looking at me. I can’t explain it, but I can’t deny it either.
My kids want a dog. I’m still not crazy about dogs, but, to my mild surprise, I found myself saying yes. I told them that they’d have to feed him, take him for walks, and clean up after him. We named him Zeus.