Ranger's Gift

Ranger’s Gift
Karen Pfeiffer
Copyright 2006

Kelly woke on Saturday morning with a feeling of anticipation. Today, she and Ranger would be driving to White Falls Park for a wonderful, relaxing vacation. She would have two glorious weeks to do what she wanted. There would be no time clocks to punch, and no one around looking over her shoulder. The best part of her vacation was spending it with her best friend Ranger.
Ranger was a beautiful sable and white collie. He came to Kelly as a ten-week old puppy, given as a birthday gift by her parents. He had been her friend and companion for three years, and they had become inseparable. Kelly usually took Ranger with her when she traveled, and he had grown to love these excursions.
As Kelly lay in bed stretching and enjoying the peaceful morning, Ranger came padding into the bedroom. He always enjoyed the morning when Kelly woke up, and this morning was no exception.
“Hi Ranger, you handsome boy”. Ranger stood beside the bed and nuzzled her neck, making her giggle. Their greeting was the same each morning, and Ranger took great delight in the daily routine.
Kelly did not immediately jump out of bed like usual, so Ranger took her wrist gently in his mouth and tried pulling her out. It was time to let him outside.
“Okay, I’m getting up”, she said, laughing at him. Ranger released her arm and Kelly got out of bed. Together they went through their morning routine. Kelly was soon dressed, and because she had finished most of the packing for the trip the day before, they were soon on their way to White Falls.
Traffic flowed smoothly on the interstate and Kelly made good time. The sun was warm and she was enjoying the ride. Ranger had taken his usual position of looking out the back window. He enjoyed watching the vehicles traveling behind them.
Kelly saw her exit ahead and was soon on a gently rolling highway. “Twenty miles to go Ranger, then you can stretch your legs. We’ll go for a long hike when we get there. Would you like that?” Ranger gave her a small bark as if in answer.
Kelly was topping a small hill when she heard a loud bang. The car suddenly careened to the other lane and Kelly fought the wheel to keep it on the road. She knew then that a tire had blown. The car suddenly served to the right. It hit the gravel on the edge of the road and lurched into the shallow ditch running parallel to the road. It then flipped twice and rolled to a stop, back on its wheels.

As Kelly lay unconscious in the hospital bed, her parents stood at her side, trying to keep the panic they felt from overwhelming them. She was their only child, and their world had revolved around her from the moment she was born.
Now, as they stood looking at her, it seemed that their world had come crashing down upon them. She looked so pale and helpless, and there was nothing they could do except be there for her when she woke up.
Kelly had suffered a hard blow to the head while the car was somersaulting through the air. Her brain had begun to swell and her condition was critical. It would be a matter of time before the swelling would subside. Until that occurred, her prognosis was guarded. Would she be normal, or did permanent damage occur? Their vivacious daughter’s future was now nothing but a blank, waiting to be filled in by time.
On the sixth evening of her hospitalization, Kelly’s mother looked up from her reading and glanced over at her. Kelly still had not opened her eyes, but something was different. Her right hand was making motions in the empty air.
Kelly’s mother quickly put down her book and went to the bed. Kelly’s right hand was still moving in the air, and as Mrs. Stone watched, she realized that she had seen the same movements many times before.
The motions were the movements of someone gently petting the head of a beloved dog. Mrs. Stone had watched Kelly many times pet Ranger’s head as she was talking to someone. Even while unconscious, Ranger was still in her memory.
Mrs. Stone hurried to the nurse’s station to report to Kelly’s nurse what she had just witnessed. Hopefully, Kelly was starting to recover, and was starting the process of waking up.
When Mrs. Stone and the nurse returned to Kelly’s room, the movements had ceased, and Kelly lay still as she had since the accident. The nurse checked her eyes, and noted that they reacted to light faster than in the past; Kelly’s prognosis started looking brighter, though no one was ready to start celebrating.
That night, Kelly’s dad stayed in the room with her so his wife could get some rest at the hotel. He sat by her bedside talking to her, hoping that something he was saying would get through and she would know that he was with her.
The night was long. Mr. Stone dozed in between visits of the nurse to take Kelly’s vital signs, and change the bag of IV fluid. Around three o’clock in the morning, Mr. Stone was awakened by a sound that came from inside the room. He looked around for the nurse, but no one was there except he and Kelly. He heard the sound again, and then realized that it had come from her. He rushed to her bed and turned on a dim light. Kelly’s eyes were open. Mr. Stone saw her lips move and heard a small sound emit fourth. He leaned closer to hear. The sound was repeated and he heard “Ranger”. He then saw that her right hand was caressing the air in the same movement that his wife had observed.
Kelly’s dad touched her forehead and said her name, but she seemed not to hear him. She kept repeating “Ranger”, and her hand was in the air as if resting on a dog’s head. He decided to stand by and just observe. After fifteen minutes, Kelly became quiet and seemed to go to sleep. Mr. Stone felt joyous that Kelly seemed to be progressing favorably, but his heart was heavy, knowing that the bad news they had to tell her would break her heart.
How could he tell Kelly that her best friend was gone? Ranger meant the world to her and now he would have to tell her the devastating news. Ranger had died in the accident. His death apparently was not instantaneous. When they were found, Ranger’s head was in her lap, and his struggle to get to her was evident. His boundless love for her made him disregard his own injuries. His last thoughts were to be with Kelly.

After two weeks in the hospital, Kelly was finally released. Her body was healing, but her spirit was gone. Kelly, who had always enjoyed life, felt like a part of her was missing. Her best friend was gone and she was responsible. Even though the accident was not her fault, she knew that she was the one responsible for Ranger’s well-being and she had let him down. She would have given up part of her life if she could just go back and relive that last day with him. Why couldn’t she have been satisfied staying home with Ranger? He would still be alive if they had just stayed home that day.

Kelly knew that she was not ready to return alone to the home that she shared with Ranger. She had many friends that would help her through the hard times, but she was not ready to put herself through the torture of returning home alone. Her parents had suggested that she stay at their home with them until she felt ready to go on. As much as she loved her parents, she did not have the heart to go there either.
She finally decided on visiting her grandmother for awhile. Grams was always happy to see her and she had loved Ranger. Ranger had loved her too, although not as much as he loved Kelly. Grams always had treats for him and she kept special toys on hand for him so that he always had something to play with. Her specialty was dog biscuits that she baked herself for him and he would do anything for her to get one of the special biscuits.

Grams took Kelly in her arms when she arrived and just held her. Kelly broke down and cried, releasing some of the heartache that had built up in her. When her sobs subsided, Grams took her into the living room where they could sit and talk. She had been careful to remove all of the toys that had been Ranger’s. She stored them in a closet, unable to throw them away. There was no purpose to letting Kelly see them and hurt more all over again.
“Oh, Grams, how am I ever going to get used to Ranger being gone? He was one of the best parts of my life, and I caused his death. That part hurts so badly, and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself. I’m so miserable”.
“Look, honey. Ranger was so happy during his life. You made him happy, not anyone else. He lived for you, to make you happy. He was with you until the minute he died, and you were his last thought. Not the thought that you let him down, because you didn’t. You are not to blame for the accident. Sometimes things happen in life, and they are not always pretty things, but they are there anyway, and we have to learn to live with the results. I have lived my whole life believing that everything happens for a reason. I know the reason for Ranger’s death is obscure and hidden right now, but someday you will know why this happened. Ranger’s time on earth was set from the minute he was born, and it didn’t matter how much you loved him. You couldn’t keep him past his time. Mourn him, but relish the memories. He will never die as long as you have his memories. The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes that when an animal dies, its spirit returns to the earth. I believe that Ranger’s spirit is with you. Listen closely, and you will know.”

A few days after Kelly’s conversation with her Grams, she was sitting in the backyard under the shady, protective arms of a large maple tree. She had brought Ranger to this spot many times before, and it held a lot of memories for her. Suddenly, she heard a sound that brought her to her feet. Off in the distance, a bark sounded. This was not just any bark, but one that sounded identical to the joyous bark Ranger gave when she arrived home from work each day.
Hearing the bark brought all of the feelings to the surface that she kept suppressing each day. She had taken her grandmother’s words to heart, but her heart was full of tears that needed a release. Hearing the bark dissolved the floodwall and she was soon racked with sobs. The misery and the guilt that she had tortured herself with could no longer be contained. Ranger was gone and she felt like part of herself had gone with him.
As Kelly sat there, she let memories of Ranger take over her thoughts. There were so many of them, and while she savored each one, they cut deep like a knife….
She remembered him as a puppy, when she worked hard housebreaking him. She was amazed at how quickly he had learned.
She remembered the way he greeted her every morning. How she missed that. He had made her mornings fun, and now she dreaded even opening her eyes.
She felt the tears flow again, remembering the way he gently tugged her clothing, leading her to the refrigerator when he wanted a piece of cheese.
Ranger always let her know that he didn’t want her to leave for work. That was the hardest part of the day – saying goodbye. Ranger playfully attacked her shoes when she was on the way out the door, untying her shoestrings. He seemed to think that it was the shoes that took her away from him. He never touched them when they were off her feet. They became the enemy only when she wore them.
The memories kept coming, and she was unable to stop them. She remembered the way he would position himself between her and any stranger she would talk to. He was never threatening, but he was always protecting.
She remembered the quiet times with him. In the evenings, he would lie quietly, either sleeping or watching her. That was enough to keep him happy.
Her sobs finally subsided and she sat there thinking. She had felt his presence when she was in the hospital. Even though she was not conscious of things around her, somehow she had felt him there. Her parents had told her of the actions they had witnessed. Maybe Grams words were true and his spirit was here with her.

As she lie in bed that night, she decided what she was going to do. She couldn’t get White Falls Park off her mind. She knew that she had to go there. She had to face the fact that Ranger was gone, and she had to tell him goodbye. Somehow, she believed that his spirit would be there, waiting for her. She had never believed in things like that before, and she wasn’t sure what people would think of her, but she somehow had to make peace with herself and tell Ranger goodbye.

The next day Kelly left for White Falls, arriving after an uneventful trip. She parked the car, and hurriedly walked to her favorite trail. She had no idea what she was expecting to find. She only knew that she needed to be there.
She walked the trail for approximately thirty minutes. She had seen nothing and the familiar bark was not to be heard. She came to one of the resting areas provided and sat down. Her depression was returning and she was beginning to think that she was crazy.
She had just started to get up and continue on the trail when the familiar bark sounded. This time she knew it was him, and he was trying to tell her something.
She started down the trail in the direction of the bark. She had not gone very far when she heard a series of small yips and whines. She hurried on toward the sound, and then stopped suddenly, as if some unseen wall stood in her way.
Sitting in front of her on the path was a small collie puppy. How it got there, or where it came from was a mystery. There was no one anywhere around on the trail, so it didn’t belong to a hiker. The puppy took one look at her and came waddling up to her, wagging its small tail.
Kelly reached out and took the small bundle of fluff in her arms. She looked in its eyes. There she saw all the warmth and love that Ranger’s eyes displayed. She hugged the puppy close to her and its licks on her face made her giggle. It felt so good to hold this little bundle of collie and to laugh again.
Suddenly, Kelly heard the distant joyous bark again. This time it was different. It sounded again, and she could tell it was fading off in the distance. Ranger knew that she would be alright now, and he could go. The bark sounded again, only very faintly this time. It faded away, and then was gone. Kelly knew that she would not hear it anymore.
“Goodbye my wonderful friend”, she said with a quiver in her voice. “I will always love you and I’ll be with you again some day.” With tears in her eyes, she turned, and with her puppy, started back down the trail. They were going home.