Today I went to an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai. It was a pretty awesome experience. There were lots of elephants and lots of dogs running around. At one point, I saw a young, naughty elephant chasing a few dogs and it reminded me of Laika and her moments of recklessness that inevitably led to something being broken.
In the dog park, Laika was a battering ram, charging around with such abandon that anything in her way would be leveled by her concrete noggin. In the hallway of my old apartment, she would speed toward treats or the doorbell with such zeal that more than a few times she knocked me over in the process. She was like lot like a baby elephant, it would seem.
One day, she did something that even surprised her. I had just returned to my house and put down a very heavy laundry basket full of clothes and other things in the middle of the living room. The basket, itself, was pretty sturdy and made from double thickness plastic. With the weight of the contents, it was actually unable to slide on the floor. Laika was actually pretty agile at times, so I thought nothing of the basket's placement.
Laika was interested in the basket, so she spent the first few minutes milling around it, just hanging out. Then she settled down on the floor between the front door and the basket. All the while I was in the kitchen, getting ready to eat a snack and waiting for a friend to come over. Laika watched from her station after the basket inspection was complete. I could tell that her excitement was building, since treats were imminent.
When my friend arrived, Laika was happy, but quickly returned to her spot. At this point, I left them together and went back outside to retrieve something from my car. I was only gone under 30 seconds, but when I came through the back door, it was as if Laika had been missing me for months. She jumped-up, tail whirling and lunged toward me, completely forgetting the basket was in her way...
CRACK!!! The sound echoed so loudly in the house. Big Baby's head met the thickest part of the basket handle, and her head won! The plastic shrapnel almost reached were I was standing (about 8 ft from the point of impact). She just stood there, stunned, but still wagging her tail. I laughed so hard as my friend stared in disbelief. It was a perfect Laika moment, as she acted like nothing happened, despite the obvious, violent collision.
I inspected her face to make sure she was ok. No harm, no foul. She was still kind of excited, but I still wasn't even sure why. Things like this just became common occurrences in the life of Laika, the baby elephant trapped in a pitbull's body!
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