Annabelle, a shih tzu

Woman reunited with missing dog after four years
By Fred Petrucelli
2009-11-22

A reunion that defied all possibilities of reconciliation occurred within the confines of this city recently between a dog and its mistress.

For 4 years a 10-year-old Shih Tzu was among the missing while Mrs. Sommer Holden lived in frantic dread that her loving pet had met a foul end. Throughout this sorrowful interlude, she had taken every means to find the dog — newspaper ads, posters, incessant telephone calls, word of mouth - all to no avail. Annabelle, the Shih Tzu had vanished.

But in her consciousness, Annabelle was still alive, missing her mistress as she herself was missed. Naysayers told Holden to end her worry, forget her fears. The dog was gone; no use fretting about it.

Yet, the whereabouts of Annabelle were shrouded in mystery. Had she lost her way, was she dog-napped, had she been struck by a vehicle and left to die? All these frightful thoughts filtered through Holden’s mind. Would she ever find the dog — after 4 years?

She continued to experience all the pain of separation, all the trauma that only a dog lover can endure. Annabelle was part of her life; she would never be forgotten. The dog had created a spiritual bond and a preordained role in the life of its owner.

Now the plot thickens. And what occurred next seems implausible. Holden maintains that she was shocked, absolutely bowled over, when one recent day while driving, she saw Annabelle.

“No question, it was Annabelle; a dog owner knows her dog and I know mine,” Holden said almost breathlessly. “I stopped the car and called to Annabelle, but she fled through the neighborhood I saw her no longer.”

When Holden told family and friends about her discovery, they rolled their eyes in disbelief. And again she heard a familiar refrain: “You’re not trying to find that dog after 4 years, are you?”

She was indeed. Her memory of Annabelle remained fresh - her long silky hair, short legs, square jaw and a plumed tail that curved so appealingly over her back.

Undaunted, Holden scoured the neighborhood, hoping against hope that Annabelle would once again appear before her. She would never give up; this was the essence of her mood. And she went through all the essential channels again; advertising in the Log Cabin Democrat, setting out notices, asking friends to be alert for her lost dog.

Happily, the responses from the want ads this time gave Holden renewed hope. Residents from the neighborhood of Adamsbrook reported seeing a dog of Annabelle’s configuration. Holden dashed out of her home on Smoking Oak and drove to Adamsbrook in record time, only to suffer a bittersweet experience.

There was Annabelle, all right, in the yard of a resident, looking scruffy and dirty and wearing the marks of a disheveled creature. But when Holden approached her, she bolted and ran from sight.

The woman returned home, almost conquered by despair. Her family also seemed crushed by this recent rejection by Annabelle until somebody suggested that Holden take a piece of her apparel and place it near a small bridge in Adamsbrook where its scent would hopefully attract the dog.

Would that even a seemingly inane suggestion might have merit. The next day Holden hustled over to the place where Annabelle might be wandering and placed a sweater on the ground. She waited and waited. Suddenly Annabelle speared from her hiding place, approached the sweater, sniffed and fell into the arms of her owner who had rushed up to capture her prize.

Annabelle’s saga had ended. But myriad questions abound about her 4-year hiatus. And they will never be answered.

“Annabelle, where have you been?”

Source: http://thecabin.net/news/local/2009-11-22/woman-reunited-missing-dog-after-four-years
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