Patch and the Great Escape
It started like any other morning.
Cold air, damp grass, Patch stretching his legs while I made my coffee.
He knows his borders well — the fence, the field, the no-go zones. Or so I thought.
Today, curiosity got the better of him.
His neighbour friend, the big labrador, realised that his electric collar doesn’t work anymore — and apparently decided freedom was worth sharing.
Minutes passed. No Patch.
I called him. Nothing.
Called again. Still nothing.
Then my neighbour heard me and started calling her dog too.
Two of us shouting across the fields in the rain like two mad women with invisible dogs.
After a while, silence. The kind that sinks in your stomach.
I grabbed the car keys and went searching. Drove around, calling, stopping, hoping. Nothing.
Only the rain, heavier by the minute.
And then — a message.
A neighbour found Patch. Wet, cold, and confused, but fine.
She posted in the local groups, another neighbour went to collect him for me before I even got the message.
Honestly, I could have hugged them all.
Patch came home soaked and shivering — scared, yet somehow happy. Straight to his blanket, tail wagging between exhaustion and pride.
He didn’t really rest, though. He kept lifting his head, ears turning at every sound, like he still wanted to go back and look for his friend. The big Labrador who hadn’t made it home — and still missing.
And all day long, pissing rain.
I posted about him everywhere I could.
What shocked me most wasn’t the worry — it was how few even saw it.
Two, maybe three people reacted. Almost nobody shared.
Funny world, isn’t it?
People will double-tap a random dog video, but scroll past a real one that needs help.
Still — I’m grateful for the ones who care.
The ones who don’t think twice before getting their shoes muddy or their car wet.
Those few are worth more than a thousand “likes.”
Tonight Patch is sleeping like a scared yet peaceful baby.
The rain’s still here.
And somewhere out there, I hope a wet labrador finds his way home too. - He did...
