It was a brisk October afternoon, a quite average Thursday for the members of the Ossining Cross Country team.  They had all went through their pre-practice routine as usual, filling up their waters, changing their shoes, and having the occasional chat with a friend in the hallway, just to prolong the process of heading down to the track.  Conversations continued from the day before, with the group of runners discussing upcoming meets, funny videos, and the homework they dreaded doing when they arrived home.  But the most frequently mentioned topic, although, was what the workout for that day might be.  Mile repeats, 800’s, or maybe just a jog around town, some hoped.  After much discussion, the teammates agreed that 1200’s seemed the most likely workout for the day, probably followed by a long run.

And 1200’s it was.  The run went well, and after they were done, the team stopped to grab some water before they headed out for their run.  They set their watches, decided their intended path, and head out.  Little did they know, their path would be interrupted by a creature that changed their lives forever.  

Well, that’s a bit of a stretch, but it did give them a good story to tell at dinner.

The team had split up, with each group taking a different route.  One particular bunch, consisting of friends Nick, Maggie, Angela, Cruz, Christian, and Kyle, took a right out of the parking lot, and all of a sudden, saw a ball of brown fur running across Wolden Road.  In the moment, the team remembered an encounter they had witnessed only minutes before–another teammate of theirs, Patrick, had run into a small dog while on his jog.  They had laughed about how the small dog stopped Patrick, who had been “viciously” chased by dogs before, in his tracks.  But they had thought the dog had run off, that it had caught up to its owner.  Oh, how wrong they were.

As they turned onto Wolden, the dog reached the sidewalk, and ran along with the team, who were wooing over the cute puppy, especially Angela, who is always a little too excited when she sees a dog.  But suddenly, the pup took a sharp left, into the middle of the street.  The team looked up the road, seeing oncoming traffic approaching at what seemed like 50 miles per hour.  Angela screamed.  Maggie shouted.  Nick gasped.  Cruz shuddered. Christian and Kyle ran into the street, stopping the cars before the pooch was run over.  The group not on the street attempted to usher the dog to the safety of the sidewalk, while Christian and Kyle endured the honking of car horns and shouts of drivers shouting out of their windows.  This continued to the corner of Wolden and Emwilton, where the dog finally came back to the sidewalk.  The five friends breathed a sigh of relief.  But right after that sigh, they glanced to their left, and there was the dog again, right in the middle of the road.  Now people were getting out of their cars, one lady even exclaiming, “Get my dog!”  Yet, the woman soon disappeared, and the dog kept running around the high school, soon rounding the corner of South Highland and Emwilton.  Hearts stopped as the team lost sight of their pup.  Angela ran the fastest her legs could take her and spun around the corner, again gaining sight of the dog.  The danger of the area had just increased ten-fold, for now there was speeding traffic just feet away from the mutt.  Maggie and Angela ordered Christian to run ahead of the dog and force it to go up the stairs onto the school property, yet once Christian arrived at the stairs, the dog went in the opposite direction.  The puppy went right onto South Highland, arousing shrieks from all five of the runners.  Time seemed to go in slow motion.  Christian motioned for the dog to go up the stairs, and attempted to block the roadway.  The dog approached him, and looked, for the briefest moment, as if it were going up the stairs.  Yet to the disbelief of the friends, the poor pooch ran under Christian’s legs, and right onto the street.  They thought for sure the dog was doomed, that it would not live to see another day.  Angela was positive this would scar her for life, that she would never forget this traumatic experience.  Just as the team thought the dog’s life was over, something occurred to them.  The traffic light was red.  The cars were stopped, and the dog was crossing the road unimpeded.  

It was a miracle.  

The dog made it across the street, and just when it looked as if it would keep going straight, away from traffic, it crossed the street again, this time during a green light.  Yet somehow, by the grace of God, the pooch survived.  Although it was rush hour, no cars crossed the intersection in that moment.  The team rejoiced, and waved the puppy goodbye, never to see it again.