During the summer months, we’d frequently open the front door to let sunlight in, but keep the glass “storm door” closed. Sadie would sit there and watch passing traffic and the neighbors across the street, or she’d lie in the sun and sleep. One day I heard her barking frantically in a manner I’d never heard before. I rushed to the door and looked out, expecting to see a deer, a bear or some other highly unusual creature in our yard or on the porch. Nothing.
I slid by Sadie, leaving her inside, and stepped cautiously onto the porch where I could get a better look up and down the street. Still nothing unusual, at least, not to me. Then I noticed that our neighbor across the street on the left, was taking mail out of our right-side neighbor’s mailbox. It didn’t surprise me because we frequently collected each other’s mail if someone was out of town and had forgotten to notify the post office in time for them to stop delivery. But Sadie knew that “Left” was standing at the wrong mailbox!
“Hey, Left,” I yelled (calling him by his first name), “better get Sadie’s permission before you collect ‘Right’s’ mail next time. She was about to come through our door after you.” He laughed and waved at me.
A few weeks later, I got a text from Mrs. Right. “Tell Sadie we’re going to the beach for a few days, and it’s okay for “Left” to pick up our mail.”
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Jim, North Carolina