She was walking down the road, and a dog can running out of someone's yard. Fear from childhood memories paralyzed her and for a moment, she stood rooted, terrified at the possibilities. What could happen? Anything could happen.
Biologically pre-wired commands released a flood of hormones and neurochemicals and influenced the way her mind was now perceiving reality. The dog turned into a monster with gnashing teeth, threatening to tear out her heart and feast upon her flesh. The thought alone of this immanent peril was as real as a nightmare.
Without thought, and with a connection to reality that was far to faint for any real influence over to it to occur, the events unfolded according to the predetermined fears. Fears that were embedded before, in a time that never existed; for there is no time beyond the present. Yet the twisted nature of reality is that as human beings we can reach into fabricated pasts and imagined futures to prepare for unseen or even un-experienced realities. Perhaps it is natures way of guaranteeing our survival as a species, maybe it is the way evolution can take place. Can it be both? To answer the question here is irrelevant, for the young girl in our story is most certainly in a place where contemplation must be replaced by reflex reaction.
She ran. Of course she did. There wasn't a shred of doubt to encourage her standing there. The nightmares of that dog attacking her as an adolescent plagued her daily life in ways unknown, but certainly the fear of an unprecedented threat to her physical safety and well-being had rooted itself into her psyche.
The traumas imposed upon an impressionable child are not at-fault, nor are they altogether avoidable. All these traumas are relative yet they are universally present in the development of any individual. The way they impose their control over our behaviors and grip our hearts in the face of similar or related circumstances is a real karmic burden to bare for all of us.
The threatening, monstrous dog vanished in the wisp of the illusion that it was, as he whispered "I'm sorry." She was already gone. The memory was too real, and even though the situation was different, the same neural pathways were triggered and it was impossible to tell the difference between the fear-based reality, and the One constructed with Love.
It was his duty to uphold this Love in the face of another's trigger. Yet he could not, due to his own trauma being brought forth. What a karmic conundrum!
Above all - devote to Love. Transcend the illusion of fear, and that evil dog disappears. There is only One person here. 'Their' suffering is 'your' suffering. The only answer then becomes compassion. And Love.