Not two minutes later, I received a text response with Baloo’s address. After a three minute drive, I’m greeted by a relieved dog parent. She explained that Baloo had recently learned to jump the chain-link fence portion of their backyard and that her husband had just obtained materials and had plans the very next day to install a 6-foot fence.
As I closed the back door of my car where my canine passenger had just been, who should pull up on his bike, but my partner from earlier. As he watched the dog disappear into the house, he pumped his fist, and I heard him say, “We did it!” He was right. Baloo was back where he belonged. As Baloo’s door closed the boy’s attention turned in my direction and I reiterated his positive sentiment, saying, “We sure did, didn’t we!” In return, he gave me a boyish grin.
At this point, I couldn’t resist doing something that both adolescents and adults enjoy: calling a kid “a kid.” So I leaned into my previously mentioned detective persona and asked, “Hey, kid, what’s your name?” He answered, “Sam.” “I’m Robin,” I said. “Nice to meet you.” He smiled again and replied, “Nice to meet you too.”
As I drove away, with Sam pedaling alongside for as long as he could keep up, it occurred to me that it had been a good day! I probably will never see Baloo or Sam again, but at that moment sharing a wave goodbye, I felt an invisible ripple of kindness and collaboration moving out into the world. I hope the new fence keeps Baloo from danger in the future, but I’m glad he escaped today, because it gave me a chance to help, and to meet Sam, the “hero” of this story.
