articlesforchristians

One Summer’s Day when I was about 13 years old, my mom took me to a new spot on the Leaf River in Mississippi. It was a beautiful day, but hot. The water was only a short walk from where we parked the car. The path to the water was berry bush lined. The berries looked so big, plump, and juicy that we just had to taste them. They tasted great. So, we went back to the car and got some containers. We then ate and picked the berries. As we were picking and eating, a beautiful white dog came up. This dog was solid white, which was unusual with the dog being outside near a river on a dirt path. The dog seemed very friendly. So friendly that we thought it must have an owner nearby. So we looked for the dog’s owner, but no one claimed the dog.

When we were done picking berries, we went down to the river. The dog followed us. We waded in the river and had lots of fun. The dog even joined us. As we played in the water, we talked about taking the dog home with us. However, when it was time to go home the dog was no longer there. We looked everywhere even trying to call for the dog. It was amazing how this dog, who had stayed right with us all through picking the berries and playing in the water disappeared at the moment we were ready to go home. We had petted and played with the dog. I still can’t image where the dog went so quickly.

After arriving home, we showed the berried to my stepdad. He took a look at the berries and informed us that they were poisonous. He watched both of us closely for the rest of the day waiting for the poison to take effect. We just disposed of the berries that we had picked. We never did feel any ill effects from eating the berries. We did however wonder about the dog. The next day we went back to see if we could find the dog. There was no dog to be found.