I was living in the median on the MacArthur Causeway where I had dragged myself after being hit by a car and having my hip broken. The men who worked in the median taunted me with food they would not give me and scared me with the weedwhackers that they used. I learned to hide deep in the bushes during the times that they were there working. In order to feed myself, I learned to catch lizards, and how to kill crabs that ventured up, and to eat garbage but there was no water unless it rained or the sprinklers went off.

One night in January of 2005 a nice lady saw me, and came to try to get me, but I was too afraid to get in her car or try to run with her across the many lanes of traffic. But she finally succeeded in getting me and even though I had to have surgery to fix my leg, and that cat does not like me very much, I am so happy to have a home of my own and know that I am going to always have enough to eat. I go to sleep with my tail thumping and wake up the same way. My mom did not throw me out when I succombed to the mange even when it was so bad I only had hair on my face and part of my legs. She just kept taking me to the vet for those "stinky baths" (hence my nickname) and giving me vitamins to help me fight the little mite that causes the mange and when I developed warts all over my face because of my long-term malnutrition making me look really scary, she had the doctor cut one off to stimulate my own immune system to fight that as well. Now I think I'm cute!

Because I was lonely and wanted someone to play with my "mom" has gotten me a friend my own size, another refugee from the streets, and even though we had a rocky start, we are now best buds. I let Barney sit on me, and bite me and pull my ears in play, and I chase him when he wants me to make him run. (But I know "mom" still loves me the best! Sh,sh Don't tell Barney because I would not want to hurt his feelings.)

I was thrown out to fend for myself in rural eastern Tennessee. Someone had put a collar on me and left it to cut into my throat. When it was removed, I had scars but they finally healed. I was hiding in the woods near a gas station in Tennessee but people were afraid of me and threw sticks and rocks at me. That made me afraid of people, except there was a police officer who would eat dinner sometimes at the McDonald's next door. He would buy an extra hamburger and give it to me so I would not starve.

One day "Mommy Beth" came to the gas station and she saw how people were treating me and she saw that I was slowly starving to death, so she told me to get in her car. Even though I was afraid of people and did not know her, I knew that she would not hurt me so I got in the car. She took me to the vet, who was very mean to me and told "Mommy Beth" that I should be killed. "Mommy Beth" knew that I was not a bad dog, just a terrified dog, so she took me to someone else who tried to be nice, but I still remembered the other vet. Now I am trying to learn not to be afraid of my new vet, Dr. Tommy, who is always so nice to me and does not want to hurt me.

At "Mommy Beth's" house in Atlanta, her other dog did not like me at all, and was always punishing me no matter what I did. He would not let me play with his toys, or sleep on his bed and I had to stay in the basement so he would not beat me up. Finally "Mommy Beth's" friend came for a visit, and she liked me. Apparently she and "Mommy Beth" worked it out so that I would go to live with her, but they sent me alone on a plane and I was frightened out of my mind.

It took a while before I trusted "mom" and before Fletcher trusted me, and we could be friends, but now I have someone my own size to wrestle with who does not bite me or hurt me; he shares his bed and toys with me; and he is teaching me that the vet is not a bad person and is not going to hurt me. And Fletcher taught me how to play "lizard patrol"!

I taught Fletcher how to tunnel under the fence so we could get out of the yard, play in the neighbor's fountain and dig up all of her flowers. But I can run like the wind, and with his bum leg, Fletcher can't run that fast; he sure can't keep up with me!

I am learning that its okay to go outside when its raining because I can come back inside whenever I want. And I am learning that thunder and lighting can't come in the house. I am learning that the cat does not mind if I sniff her fanny so long as I do not try to take a chunk of her hair out, and that I do not have to be on alert every moment of the night and day because my new mom will protect me.

And since I don't think I can ever be close enough to my new mom, I love to lick the inside of her shoes.