I wrote about how my sister and I waited for the school bus early every morning on the road in front of our house. One morning was a very sad morning.
We had two dogs. Their names were Suzie and Dooey. Dooey was actually a dog from Japan! My aunt's family lived in Okinawa when I was a child. She and her family got a dog in Okinawa, and brought him back to the U.S. I don't remember the reason, but they gave the dog, Dooey, to us when I was in junior high.
Dooey was a sweet dog, but he had a bad habit. He liked to bark at cars that passed on the road in front of my house. We lived on a country road, and not many cars passed by. So when a car did pass, Dooey would get very exicited and run to the road and bark at the car.
Dooey would bark at the school bus every morning. We usually held him by the collar until the bus stopped, but one morning he escaped and ran directly in front of the bus. The bus driver couldn't stop in time, and Dooey was hit by the bus and killed instantly.
My sister and I ran to Dooey, crying. We kneeled on the road next to Dooey and cried and cried. The bus driver got out of the bus and stood behind us. He put his hands on our shoulders and told us that he was sorry. My mother heard all the noise, and she came outside and moved Dooey from the middle of the road.
Finally, my sister and I got on the school bus, still crying, and went to school.
That day I felt so sad about Dooey, but I also felt sorry for the bus driver. He was a very kind man who was loved in our community. He was a good person who loved children. He was also the principal of the elementary school. I knew he must feel terrible about accidentally killing our dog, and seeing us crying and so sad. I was a very shy child, so I couldn't imagine talking to him about it.
But that afternoon, my sister--who was not shy-- gave the bus driver a letter. In the letter, she told him that it wasn't his fault that our dog died. She asked him to please not feel bad, and that we didn't have bad feelings about him.
I was proud of my sister that day.
Thinking back, I'm also proud of a boy who rode the same bus. He got on the bus that morning after me, so he didn't know about what had happened with my dog. He saw me crying, and started teasing (揶揄う) me. I didn't tell him why I was crying.
That afternoon, on the way back home on the bus, the same boy sat next to me and apologized (謝る）for teasing me in the morning. He said, "I heard that your dog died, and that's why you were crying. I'm sorry for teasing you. I'm sorry your dog died." I was so surprised! Boys that age (about 12 or 13 years old) were not usually very sensitive, in my experience. After that, I respected him, and admired his courage to apologize.