Christmas Day

A Story by InTheRaine

Our excitement on Christmas Day

So it was decided this year that for Christmas, we would all go to North Carolina. My friend Michelle and her boyfriend Jaime were already in Asheville working a strip that they work every year. She had asked us to spend Christmas with her, and she had reservations Christmas night for dinner at the Biltmore. The day before, I located a hotel that accepts pups. Now, you KNOW that I'm not going to leave Brutus behind during a holiday! We had reservations for Thursday night at the Days Inn. We got there early, and Michelle had still not left the strip, and we were starving! Pretty much everything was closed (because it was Christmas). There was, however, a tiny Asian buffet just a block or so from the hotel. We settled Brutus in, turned on the television for him, got his kibble and water out, and spread opened his suitcase for him. We put the "DO NOT DISTURB" sign out and opened the curtains so that he could see what was going on outside. We then left to go get a bite ourselves.

We finally arrived and sat down to eat. Jeff was thrilled because he hadn't eaten crawfish in a while. The buffet, over all, was pretty shnazzy. Nearing the end of the meal, I got a very worrisome phone call:

"Raine Carr?"

"Yes, this is Raine"

"Your dog go away" (in somewhat of an Asian accent)

"What?"

"Your dog, he run away" (My mind runs away!)

"Is this the hotel?"

"Yes"

"You opened my door?

"No. He run away."

Now, I panic a little. I look at Jeff and tell him let's pop smoke! I'm driving because he just had shoulder surgery last week. I go through the front of the hotel, and Jeff walks around the back. When I get there, David, the front desk clerk is watching Brutus sitting on the bed, from about 100 feet from the hotel door! (laughs) David looks much relieved that we are there, and assures us that he was not an issue, giving him the most excitement that David has had at the hotel in a while. What I failed to remember, is that when I lived at the house at Holtkamp's, the house had the same handles on the doors as the hotel did. Brutus watched me open the door for years, and now knows how to open them himself.

I don't think that Jeff really believed me, so Brutus was more than thrilled to show him!

And poof!

He was gone! Jeff laughed! The initial emergency ended well. Brutus didn't travel far. He was looking for mommy. No one at the hotel was upset. For the remainder of the trip, we ended up barracading the door with a heavy chair (smiles). As a sidenote, no squirrels were killed or injured during the unfolding of the day.