I thought I would never see my dog again as she ripped away from my mom's grasp. I had told my parents we should not bring her, that she would not like all the crowds. What happened after that I don’t really remember. I just knew I was right and my parents were wrong.

It was early in the morning on Memorial Day, my mom, dad and I were getting ready to go to a parade in Downtown Ypsilanti. I was very excited to go and had been waiting a long time because I liked to go watch all the cars and bands go by. I heard my parents say they were going to bring my dog, Bella. It instantly made my stomach churn and I begin to dread going to the parade. Bella is a Scottish Terrier and unlike my old dog, Libby, that was a Golden Retriever she doesn’t listen very well. Bella also hates loud noises and loves to chase any rodent she can. So the first thing I thought was  she is going to run off.

We all piled into my dad’s Honda CRV and headed down to the parade. We arrived and my dog was having a really good time seeing so many new people, she was walking up to them and rolling on her back to be pet. My parents told me “ See Matt, Bella is having a good time”. I began to hear the sounds of fire trucks and police cars that were part of the parade in the distance. Bella started pacing, panting, and stopped wagging her tail as they approached. She started pulling on the leash to leave. My mom offered to take her down by the Huron River to get her away from the sounds for the rest of the parade. I watched my mom walk away feeling uneasy and  hoping that Bella would be less scared down there.

I sat on the curb and watched the rest of the parade with my dad and enjoyed seeing all the different trucks and bands but I was still concerned about Bella. As the last few Cub Scouts walked by the Color Guard began to prepare for the 21 Gun Salute down on a bridge. The seven people dressed in uniform held large rifles. The bridge happens to be over the water down by where my mom is with my dog. We headed down to get a better view. I stopped next to my mom to see Bella had stopped panting and was not pacing, my dad said “ Matt let’s go stand closer to get a better look” and I said “ No Bella won’t like the sound and is going to try and run, I don’t trust mom”. “Okay” he said and leaves to get a better look. I kept telling my mom to let me hold her leash and she said “No it’s fine I will hold it”.

The next thing I said is “Mom, make sure to hold it tight”. Just then the shots go off all at once producing one loud BANG!!! Bella tucked her tail, pulled her ears back, and started running, taking the slack out of the retractable leash, as soon as it reaches the limit it flies out of my mom’s hand. I was prepared for this and I turned, taking off sprinting after Bella. She was heading for the woods but I was making up ground fast, usually she could outrun me. I kept digging into the ground with every step until she was close to the tree line. I figured it was my last chance and laid out through the air like I was making a diving catch and just barely grabbed the leash with my finger tips. I got up with tears welling in my eyes and stormed towards my mom. She was laughing at me, she thought it was funny my dog just ran away. I screamed at her to “STOP LAUGHING!”. Then I called Bella who was still quivering towards me and walked to our car. I was so upset with my parents I proceeded to ignore them for the rest of the day.