Why, Universe, Why?

I’ve been suffering some seasonal allergies lately—stuffy nose, scratchy throat. Two days ago, I started shooting saline up my nose, which has helped, but at 3:30 this morning, when my ibuprofen wore off, my throat was undeniably sore, and I couldn’t get warm, I had to admit to myself I had developed a cold.

I called in sick to work, which I never do, and turned my alarm off. I would spend this day resting, no stress please and thank you.

At about 9:00, I roused myself and fed the dogs. They went outside and started arfing their heads off, so I took a peek, and

Again. Really?

He was running across the street. Collar, but no tags. I headed towards him, at which point he darted under a car and started woofing at me. His distrust was no match for his hunger, though—he was nothing but ribs!—and I distracted him long enough with treats to grab him. He bucked and barked, but I wrestled him back to my yard and fed him. He was sitting in my lap in under five minutes. Redford and Violet were pretty excited. Violet took on a reluctantly mothering demeanor, while

Little dude was so hungry. I gave him wet food, dry food, and more treats. Even after that,

I had called Animal Control the moment I got him into my yard, but an hour went by and nobody showed. At that point, everybody was getting along great.

And he just got

And I started to think maybe he’d be mine.

And then Animal Control showed up.

I cried.