Arriving home the other day, I found a flyer attached to my door advertising two lost dogs. One was very young, a yellow lab, and a very old black lab who needed meds. This is not an uncommon occurrence in my neighborhood, but typically I just keep an eye out, just in case. However, for whatever reason, I was compelled to do something different this time. I figured that if the owner cared that much to make and distribute flyers, they really wanted their dogs back.

So I decided to go on a small dog hunt.

I went out into my semi-rural, semi-suburban neighborhood armed with the flyer and my iPod, hoping to make somebody’s day a bit better by reuniting them with their dogs. I figured that if I ever lost my dog, I would really appreciate it if somebody took some time out of their day to give a look for them. I hoped Karma would be in my favor. How wrong could I have been?

About two normal songs into my walk, I decided to enter a wooded area of the neighborhood-trails that run in between the streets. These trails are not often traveled, and are essentially paths of untamed nature. I had not been on them for awhile, so I marveled as my shoes sunk into the soft sand and vines seemed to slither towards my ankles. It took everything in my power to not be mesmerized by the canopies and arches of ancient oak branches above my head and focus on keeping my eyes at dog-finding level. I can say confidently now that I was never really expecting to find the lost dogs-that I as expecting to go on a walk, be unsuccessful, but still feel good about doing it, but somewhat unfortunately, I did find them.

Only one song into my journey on the trails, I was approached by a rustling sound from my left. Startled at first, I froze and scoured the area with my eyes. A few moments later, I was again startled as a duet of black and yellow Labradors soon started wandering over to my position, both looking gaunt but happy to see somebody. These were pets, so I thought nothing of simply reaching towards on of them to try and lead them home. I figured that this was actually a pretty bad idea-who knows when these dogs had been seen last-rabies was surely a possibility. So I just started walking, and like most lost dogs, they followed.

At this point, I was feeling really good about myself. What a great deed I had done. Surely the Universe would smile upon me today!

…

CHOMP!

Lost in my thoughts of cosmic fairness, I did not notice as the black lab crept slowly up to me, and neither did I notice when he opened his Jurassic jaws, but I surely did notice as they clamped onto my left hand, causing a river of warm red to flow forth.

Fear and surprise battled inside of me for dominance as I began to run home with blood dripping from my hand. I raced into the kitchen, leaving the dogs behind, and began washing the wound. Flaps of skin were hanging as it became evident that I needed a bit more than kitchen first-aid. A few hours later, I was in the hospital receiving stitches-15 to be exact. A few hours after that, I was on the phone with the dogs’ owner. I was not angry or anything, I just wanted to tell him that I had found his dogs, and that I could give a rough estimate of their location.

The conversation however, did not play out as expected, and he soon got very upset with me that I did not hand deliver them to his house, as he so impolitely pointed out was written on the flyer. I countered by telling him that he also should have included on the flyer that they have temperament issues, and should not have been approached by just anybody. He replied by saying that he must not hit them enough…

At this point I realized that sometimes, nobody will care if you do a good deed. And if you try to do something good, and only get punished for it, that happens too. Maybe the next time when I am faced with doing something good for somebody else or going about my own affairs, I will remember this incident (I surely have the scars on my hand to keep me from forgetting) and think twice about doing it. But more likely, I will be a lemming running towards the cliff, and fall for the same ruse, over and over until I too receive my end of the positive karma circle. Until then, I hope you readers have learned from my experience that miserable failure can come from even the best of situations, and that you too may be ready for it, and able to deal with it in a constructive manner.

May your rendezvous with Anti-Karma be less painful than mine.

Want to join Xomba earn money with your writing?
Then click here: http://www.xomba.com/referral/777979ea
Another Fantastic Adsense Sharing site: http://www.rateitall.com/signup.aspx?TrustGuid=7e4ad6af-1a1b-4ce2-8136-669037804c67