Page 3 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

The last remaining family he had in this world was gone in his eyes.

He supposed it was true that he was a loner in more ways than one.

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AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION

Ten Years Later

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

“I’m not sure this is an emergency, but I didn’t know who else to call,” Kelsey Raymond said.

She was on her hands and knees in her backyard on her lunch hour and looking under her deck as best as she could with a flashlight.

Her heart was racing, her palms were sweating and clinging to the grass while she was trying not to curse and swear at the same time.

“Why don’t you tell me what is going on and we’ll figure it out,” the nice calm male voice said.

“Mr. Franklin is stuck under my deck,” she said in a panic when a loud whine echoed under it.

“Sounds like an emergency to me,” the man said. “What’s your location?” She read off her address to him. “I’ll dispatch fire and police.”

Oh shit! This was turning into an embarrassing situation. It’d be her luck a family member would show up.

“No need to bring in the cavalry,” she said. Another whine came out. “Oh, he’s crying. Mr. Franklin, I’m sorry. But you shouldn’t have run through that hole.”

What the hell was wrong with her to not think about patching that up?

“He ran through a hole?” the man said. “Is he hurt? Can you see him?”

“I don’t think he’s hurt,” she said. “I can’t see him.” She knew her breathing was more rapid than normal. Her parents and brother told her she wouldn’t be able to handle this. It was all the more reason to prove them wrong.

Except they weren’t all that wrong.

“Try to relax. What’s your name?” the man asked. “Help is on the way.”

She’d been hearing typing and was put on hold for a brief second. Now she was starting to panic the more whimpering that came through the cracks.

“Kelsey,” she said. “My name is Kelsey.”

“Okay, Kelsey. Tell me what happened. I’d like to get as much information as I can.”

She was trying to rewind it in her mind, but she really couldn’t.

“We were outside playing and then something caught his eye and he went right for the deck. Before I could figure out what he might do, he was crawling under it.”

“Playing?” the male asked. “Is Mr. Franklin a child?”

There was more typing to that and she could imagine he was passing on all the information to the police and fire or whoever was on the way.

“What?” she asked. “No. Mr. Franklin is my puppy. Sorry. I should have said that. I told you I didn’t think it was an emergency, but it’s not like I can fit under the deck myself to get him.”

“A puppy?” the man asked.

“Yes,” she said. “This is embarrassing, but I guess it’s no different than a cat in a tree. But I can’t fit under the deck so not sure how any man is going to.”

Her voice rose. She would have called her brother, but he was working and Duke would never fit. He’d just start pulling the wood siding off to get there.

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