CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1207923
Discove r Cit yV iewN C.co m's fres h up d ate d loo k ! | 9 put it on a high shelf in my bedroom to keep it away from Tiger. What I saw as a life-threatening box of candy for my dog, Tiger saw as the ultimate chocolate challenge, her version of scaling Mount Everest. e game was afoot, or in Tiger's case, apaw. I went to school the next day, confident that I had made it impossible for Tiger to get the candy. But she had other ideas. So, while I was at school conjugating French verbs and struggling with geometry theorems, Tiger was at home planning her ascent to the mountaintop. How she got there I will never know. When I came home that aernoon, I found my box of candy lying on the floor. Wrappers were scattered around the room, and there were a few chocolate smears on the carpet. Tiger had eaten every single piece of candy. I fully expected to find our dog lying dead somewhere in the house, perhaps on her back with all four legs straight in the air. Or maybe she was curled up in a corner, rigor mortis setting in, with a smile on her face signifying her joy at going out the way she would have preferred—stuffed to the gills with chocolate. But no, she was sound asleep in the den under her much-loved stinky blanket. I decided not to call the vet. He already knew that Tiger was an anomaly, a singular creature who defied every natural law in the canine universe. Instead, I decided to wait and see what would happen to a dog who had just consumed five pounds of chocolate in a short time. Nothing happened. Valentine's Day came and went, and Tiger seemed no worse for wear. She may have had a glorious day, but mine was abysmal. Between my anger at her for eating my candy, the time I wasted waiting for her to get sick, and then my anger at her for not getting sick, I was miserable. When my friend asked me how I liked the candy he had given me, I smiled and said, "It was so sweet of you to do that. It made my Valentine's Day one I will always remember." I learned two important lessons from this experience: that it was possible I owned the world's strangest dog, and that it was possible I could give an honest answer to a question without telling the whole truth. Cupid's arrow is supposed to be aimed at the human heart, but sometimes it goes astray and hits a girl in the bloomers or a dog in the stomach. Mary Zahran lives in Fayetteville and loves chocolate almost as much as her dog Tiger did. You may reach her at maryzahran@gmail.com 8 Mobile Chromebook Labs Academically Gifted Programs College Preparatory 32 Athletic Teams – Middle School, JV, Varsity 20 Clubs/Extra Curricular Opportunities All Classrooms Equipped with Smartboard Technology 4 Science Labs Average Class Size – 17 Full-Service Media Center International Senior Class Mission Trip Committed to God…Committed to Excellence Preschool (1-4 yrs.) through 12th grade K-12th Nationally Accredited Biblical Worldview 100% Graduation Rate 30 Honors / 10 AP Courses Campus-Wide Secured Wifi Theater, Music, Advanced Art Courses 3 Computer/Tech Labs 908 S. McPherson Church Rd. ~ Fayetteville, NC 28303 www.vcanc.com Main: 910.483.5500 Schedule a tour today! VCA Admissions Office www.vcak-12@vcanc.com