Tuscie

My hero is my dog, "Tuscie." Tuscie isn't one of those dogs who's hung up on looks. He is full of devotion and unconditional love. He also saved my life once by warning me of a potential deadly fire. It's Tuscie's instincts, honesty and overall dignity that make him my hero.

Here's the story on how Tuscie, my hero, saved my life. I was in my last apartment, also in Chicago, and Tuscie was about six months old. I had been out that night, with my dog, and we returned around 1:00am. I had a roommate at the time, who was, to say the least, flighty. I went in my room with my dog, and shut the door to eliminate the noise from the other room. As I tried to sleep, Tuscie sat at my door and whined loudly. I was used to hearing this whine when he wanted attention, and I was in no mood to play.

I tried ignoring him, which only increased his hearty whimpering. I tried reprimanding him with a harsh tone, but this only quieted him for a moment. I finally gave in, and got up to let him outside. I opened the front door and he ran right back inside. He began whining and running around the apartment, waiting for me to follow. I jokingly said, "What is it Lassie?" not realizing what I was in for.

I followed him, thinking I was being manipulated into playing a game with my dog. He led me into the dining room, where we had an old wooden dresser. He sat and waited. I asked myself what I was doing following my dog around at one in the morning, and turned around to go to bed. As I turned, I saw a gigantic flame coming from a candle that was on the dresser. The sides of the candle were high, so the flame was concealed from far away. The wick was about a centimeter away from burning through the candle, onto the dresser. My "flighty" roommate had forgotten she ever lit the candle. The candle would have burned the dresser, causing a fire. We both had planned on going to sleep, so this would have been a dangerous situation.

I went to bed, thinking it was all a coincidence. When Tuscie immediately fell asleep, knowing I was no longer in danger, was when it occurred to me that he had saved my life. And that's why Tuscie is my hero.