Cause and Effect

Cause and Effect

Have you ever given thought to causal relationships, the trillions of actions and corresponding reactions that continually go on around you?

This seemingly perpetual stream of events is the fabric of fiction. But allow me to illustrate a real-life example. A friend of mine, we’ll call him Mr. C, having decided to walk his Labrador Retriever, stood on the sidewalk outside his house where he saw something rather odd: A deer slowly walking down the middle of the street. Perceiving that the presence of the wild animal had yet to come to the attention of the dog, Mr. C quickly steered his version of man’s best back toward the house to go inside and wait out the ordeal. However, before Mr. C could accomplish his plan of limiting collateral damage, his pickup driving neighbor returned from a jaunt outside the sub.

The deer bolted away from the oncoming vehicle but slowed her rate of escape when she saw Mr. C and the Lab blocking her path.

The previously nonchalant Lab ripped free of Mr. C’s leash-grip, barked at full capacity, gallantly took up the challenge of protecting his property, and charged the renegade deer.

Most of us have been in situations where it seems there’s no easy way out. We are, in fact, defined by our responses to such dilemmas. At that moment, though, I don’t think the deer was overly concerned about character. She did a 180 and ran from the dog.

Alerting people for miles around, the Lab continued in hot pursuit of the delusional doe, chasing the frightened animal back onto the street.

The driver of the pickup, perhaps caught up in a high-decibel rendition of Stairway to Heaven, was completely oblivious to the goings on. He steered the truck into his driveway and hit the garage door opener.

With highly tuned, wild senses alerting the deer to a possible hidey-hole, the animal executed a move that would draw envy from the likes of Adrian Peterson and followed the pickup into the garage.

At the same time, the oblivious driver hopped out of his ride.

Not having time to put on the brakes, the terrified deer knocked the truck driver to the floor, trampled him with her hooves, and ran into the wall of the house, knocking a sizeable hole in the sheetrock.

But it wasn’t over. The deer scrambled wildly to gain its footing on the slick floor of the garage, keeping its flanks just inches away from the jaws of the barking Lab while Mr. C frantically chased both of the animals around the fallen truck driver.

Now there’s a scene.