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When I was just 18 years old, I went down to Florida to visit with my grandmother who had rented a condo there for the winter months. After my visit with my grandmother, I headed North to visit with a close family friend in Ocala, Florida. I was very excited to be traveling by myself and our family friend treated me like an adult. I just adored her. The morning after arriving, we decided to go for a ride at a nearby farm.

My horse was a thoroughbred and after warming up in the ring we decided to go for a trail ride around the farm. On the way back, we decided to canter for a short while. The rule was, "never run back to the barn". We decided to break that rule. After my friend went, I took off. AS I was flying through the field, my horse shifted direction and I lost my balance. I fell off feeling the ground of Northern Florida first hand. My horse took off towards the barn with her saddle between her legs and I lay on the ground not being able to sit up after receiving a blow to the head and a black, cut eye. My friend told me she would put the horses away and come back for me in the car. So there I was, lying on the ground in the blazing sun of Florida not being able to move. Suddenly, I felt a dog licking my face and hanging around me as if to watch me so I would be ok. The dog, licked my wound over my eye clean. He kept me from falling asleep which is something I so desperately wanted to do. When I finally arrived at the clinic, all soiled and dirty from the fall, the nurse said to me, "Did someone clean your wound?" I answered her saying, "A dog had come and cleaned the wound." She then smiled and said, "That's the best thing that could have happened to you, now you won't have a scar and I won't have to disinfect the wound." So for any disbelievers out there, In my opinion, D-O-G really does spell G-O-D backwards.

Learn more about this author, Joanne Harris.
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