Tyson the Flying Dog

I've told this story one million times verbally, so I thought I would take a shot at writing it down because I was one of the few people that has ever seen a flying dog.

Well, the dog didn't really fly. At least, not on his own. He flew, but he had a little bit of help.

Once upon a time we lived in a house on Cedar Creek in Abilene. Our children were raised in this house as was my roommate for the most part.
It was a happy time for us for the most part.

Across the street lived a family with a couple of really rotten boys. One of them was worse than the other and the other actually turned out to be a really good person.
But, these boys were everywhere and out of control. They were always at our house and getting into everything and getting into trouble.

They had a boxer named Tyson.

Tyson was a good dog as most boxers are and really gentle and easy going.

One day the boys were playing in the street as they often did. Cedar Crest street was our address and not such a bad street. But the side street by our house and the neighbor's house was College Drive which is sort of busy. It's one of the main thoroughfares linking Abilene Christian University with the rest of Abilene.
So, consequently, college kids drive down this street pretty often and they also often speed.

The boys were playing in the street and Tyson was right there amongst them playing as he often did.
I was working in the yard and noticed their usual antics and yelled at them to get out of the street and watch out for the dog because he could get hit by a speeding car.

As soon as I yell, sure enough here comes a car being driven by ACU coeds. The story might have been different if they had been driving something else, but lucky for us the young lady was driving a Pontiac Fiero which is tiny.

I like to say in my story that they were going 50 MPH, but honestly I really don't know how fast they were going.
But, they were going pretty fast.

They hit Tyson pretty hard right before my eyes.

As the title of my story says, Tyson took off in flight. In my mind, he is spinning around and around in slow motion and I can still see it vividly as I type this.
He sailed an incredible distance and at least 10 to 15 feet in the air.

After viewing this with my mouth open, I take off on a run towards the street but have to hop down two terraces about four to five feet high each.
By then, the boys are crying at the top of their lungs. I am running and finally get down the terraces and onto street level.

As soon as I hit the street, Tyson comes running by me at top speed heading towards his house. Again, as before, my mouth has dropped open in unbelief as I realize this dang dog is not even injured.
Everybody runs to the neighbors house following Tyson.
By the time we get there, the college girls are pulling up in their sports car and they get out shaking with mixed fear and grief at what had just happened.

We examine the dog all together and are amazed that this amazing little beast just got hit by a car at that speed and flew through the air so high and so far and was not even scratched. I have been impressed with the toughness of boxers ever since this day.

This is my story and I have told it a lot. A million times s a bit of a stretch but I have told it as many times as I can find somebody to listen.
Thanks for listening as I amuse myself one more time with what I think is an amazing story.

Tyson is long gone. The neighborhood boys are grown and moved off and I have moved on as well.
But, Tyson the flying dog is still among one of my favorite stories and I love to share it with others.