"Mommy! I want Mommy", a girl screamed at the top of her lungs. "I want mommeeee!"
She was around 7 or 8 years old I think. She was holding some tissue against her mouth. She was standing in the angle of the van and the open door. Her dad had no idea what to do, he was in a panic, trying to do whatever he could to help alleviate his daughters pain.
I couldn't help but approach them and ask her what happened. She continued to cry,"aahhhh, ahhh" with her mouth open but wouldn't tell me.
"She fell and hit her mouth" her dad responded.
A few seconds later, she spotted Briar about 15 feet behind me and instantly stopped crying. Briar was walking towards us, but once the noise stopped, he picked it up a notch and started galloping. When he came within a foot of her, his tail popped up and he looked up at her soggy face. He was happy...and so she became. It was like the pain never existed in her mouth. She reached down as Briar lifted his head up for her to pet. With the remnants of tears in her eyes, a smile crept out from under her bloody tissue.
"Thank you", her dad said in relief.
I smiled and replied, "He's good at distraction".
And we were on our way.