White Out

It was a few minutes after five when Jenny got home from her job as a lab technician at Memorial Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It had been clear all day but now the clouds had begun to roll in. It looked like they were in for some snow tonight. She hurried in the house and found her husband, Mark, in the kitchen.

“Has Mandy been out recently?”, she asked. Mandy was their white English Bulldog, but to Jenny and Mark, she was their only child.

“I haven’t seen her lately. She’s probably asleep on her bed.”

“I want to make sure she goes out before the snow starts.”

Jenny set her purse and keys on the counter and went to the stairs, calling, “Mandy, come on, let’s go outside.” As usual, on hearing Jenny's voice, Mandy nearly flew down the stairs heading for the door. And also as usual, when Jenny opened the door Mandy ran toward the back of the house where she did all of her “important business”.

After about 10 minutes, it was getting dark and the snow was starting, so Jenny went out to find Mandy to try to hurry her along. Mandy wasn’t in her usual place so Jenny started calling and following the tracks farther back. Before long the snow had drastically increased to a complete whiteout. She called and called for Mandy but with the wind and snow, she didn’t think Mandy would even know she was there.

After another fifteen minutes of trying to find her way back to the house, Jenny heard Mark calling and followed his voice. Shivering, Jenny hurried into the house and found Mandy, sound asleep on the couch.

“Why didn’t you call me?”, Jenny asked Mark.

“You mean on that phone in your purse?”