He Pulled A Rabbit Out Of The Hat…
By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee
Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee… 2013
She sat there, stunned. No, stunned wasn’t the word. She was in ‘pure’ shock. Devastated. What was going to happen to their dogs? They were their babies, their life. They were the only family they had left in their life. Her only child had died three years ago… she had no one left in her life… only her husband, and three dogs.
She and her husband were traveling down the road. Her husband was driving. His cellphone rang… it was the call he’d been expecting. He was smiling as he pressed the button on his bluetooth, his hands-free device for his cellphone.
He spoke pleasantly into his phone, his face was smiling. The call he expected, was from a man who had hired him to work locally, making very good money. He was happy, he could stay close to home, his wife, his dogs. It meant the world to him.
He’d already met the man… both instantly liked each other. The man called him over the next several days… and they met again for her husband to give him his driving record, and such.
His driving record was perfect… he was a good driver. Not only that, he was good with customers… he’d worked in management… so, he knew how to talk to anyone.
She sensed something was wrong… it was taking her husband too long to answer. She looked over at him… instantly felt sick to her stomach. Something’s wrong… why does her husband look like that!
Her husband had been driving long-distance for so long… he just wanted to be home. He’d begun having fears that he might not see home again.
He told her that he didn’t mind telling anyone that he loved being home, loved being with his wife, loved his dogs. Not only that, he loved to be home in the evenings to drink tea, and watch his favorite tv shows.
This new job meant that his dream to be home … was coming true. Both felt such happiness, relief. He’d been out of work for over a month… and they had been having such a hard time.
Bills needed to be paid… groceries needed to be bought… gas was expensive. Pups needed food… they also, had to buy water by the gallon… they couldn’t drink the water from the tap at their home.
Not only that… rent needed to be paid. Thankfully, the man they rented their house from… understood. He was a good man… in fact, he encouraged her husband to come home, get off the road. The man was their friend, also. He worried about her husband… he knew she worried about her husband.
So, now… that was the reason he was on the phone. He’d been hired to drive… and the man was calling him to talk to him about the details.
She saw the smile slip off her husband’s face, heard his voice tell the man, that he understood. Her husband’s voice was pleasant, though she knew something was ‘bad’… wrong. He pushed the button on the bluetooth, to turn the cellphone off.
“He can’t hire anyone right now… the insurance company is investigating … to do with one of his trucks burning up. He can’t hire anyone until it’s over, done with. He has only the one driver and himself to drive… and if his other driver quit now… he’d be ruint… because he can’t hire anyone right now. He said he hates to tell good people bad news.
She sat there… went into a shock. She felt her husband do the same. Her hands went to her face… she couldn’t bear this. Where would their dogs go… they were going to lose everything. She didn’t care about herself… just where would her dogs go? She began… crying.
Her husband drove home in shock. He couldn’t even speak. He felt bad for his wife. They got out of the vehicle in silence… both went into the gate, closing… locking it behind them. They both reached out to pet their 3 dogs as they walked up the steps, onto the porch… opened the door, entered the house.
She stopped, turned to him, said to him in a soft voice, “Oh God, what are we going to do, what are we going to do? Where will our dogs go… who can care for them like we do”?
In a quiet voice, he told her not to worry… their dogs weren’t going anywhere, and they’d be cared for by only them. He told her everything was going to be alright. He would show her.
She felt faint… she held onto the chair as she walked by it. She couldn’t take anymore. They were at rock-bottom… how in the world could they come up now.
They were like a hot-air balloon… sitting on the ground… what in the world could make it rise back up in the air? What?
She did something she rarely ever did… she only did such a thing when ‘the world came to an end’ for her. She walked to the bedroom, opened the closet door… reached for her nightgown.
She put it on, hung her clothes up. She walked out into the hall where she met her husband… she softly said, “I am going to put me into bed… I’m no good to you, or to me right now… I can’t function anymore… I am going to bed”. She turned, went to the bed… pulled her covers back… turned on her electric blanket. She was so cold.
Instantly, the bed shook as three dogs jumped up on the bed with her. They all found their places beside her, promptly snuggled up to her. Her husband walked to the door… talked to her. She told him she was so sorry… she wasn’t any good to anyone right now. She said in a quiet voice, “You’ve always pulled a rabbit out of the hat… please pull a rabbit out of the hat, now”.
She heard her husband say in a quiet voice, “I’ll pull a rabbit of the hat, you’ll see. Everything’s going to be alright. I’ll be back in a little while”.
He left… she fell asleep surrounded by the dogs she loved with her very heart. As she fell asleep to get away from all the grief, pain in her heart… she reached out to touch her babies. They were all she had… them and her husband.
She began praying, asking God for a miracle. She knew many miracles had happened in her life… she asked for one more. She asked for a good job for her husband, one he could be happy at… one here at home. As she fell alseep, she prayed that she, her husband, and dogs never be apart… and for all to be alright. As she drifted to sleep… she thanked God for all she had.
She laid on the big bed… surrounded by three dogs who knew her as their ‘Mommy’. They snuggled close, tight to her… they knew something was wrong… they sensed she needed them close to her. They needed… her.
“I have good news, I got a job!” She became aware of her husband’s voice… it sounded happy. She woke up, sat up in bed… the dogs jumped up to be petted by her husband.
He began to tell her how he went to a friend of theirs, talked to him. He didn’t need anyone right now. He told her how instead of turning to go in the direction he always went… to come home… he went straight.
He drove until… he saw his friend’s truck in the distance. It was parked in front of his house. He drove up, parked behind it. His friend and his wife, and sister came out when they saw him park.
His friend asked him what was he doing. Her husband told him he was looking for a job… that he’d tried to retire but, there wasn’t enough money to retire.
His friend said his company was looking for a good, experienced driver. Her husband had worked for that company many years ago… that’s where he had met his friend.
His friend called the company… told them he thought he’d found somebody. He put the man on speakerphone, and he remembered her husband… her husband remembered him.
It was a good conversation. He told her husband to call on Monday, and that he would have him come there with another driver to pick up a truck. Also, he’d be taking a drug test, and all the things he needed to do.
She began to cry softly… when she finally looked up… it seemed everything felt ‘alive’ once again. She had completely stopped living for a little while… she looked into her husband’s eyes. They were happy… his voice was happy. He would be going to work with people he knew… who knew him. She felt happiness in her heart… she said quietly, “You pulled a rabbit out of the hat!”
She quietly thanked God inside her heart… he’d sent them a miracle at the most crucial time… a better one than the one that came with good promises… left as quickly… like a tornado blowing in, tearing everything up… leaving all laying in pieces… as it blew away.
She had lost faith in everything… so many bad things had happened in her life… in their life. So many miracles had happened in their life… always restoring hope again. This was one of those rare times, when she gave up… knowing there wasn’t any hope left… only to be lifted back up by her husband. He ‘pulled a rabbit out of the hat’.
Colors of My Life 