OUCH! Suddenly a deep, electrifying pain shoots through my little tail. I bolt from my mom almost causing her to lose balance. I look back at my tail that has betrayed me, checking it out. The little stub curls over like it is trying to play dead. The pain is sudden and agonizing for those seconds. My mom calls me over to make sure I am okay. For now, I am. But I don’t know for how long before it hits again…it could be months or it could be days. The unexpected, writhing pain is almost too much to bear.

Who’d think a little tail could cause such big pain! Someone had my tail cropped when I was a pup and that choice brings me great agony at unexpected times. I wish I could have my whole tail back! Only a little bit of the stub remains. If only…they had left my tail alone! Nothing can be done to undo the damage. Nothing can stop those agonizing moments. This is my short, sad tale of my short tail.

Don’t look back.

Have you done things that later caused great grief? No matter what caused us to not do what we wish we did, there are those times in life we wish we could re-do. But we can’t. At night or at unexpected times our minds may flood with the “IF ONLYS.” If only my tail didn’t hurt, if only I wasn’t so whiney that day, if only I didn’t chase that cat, if only I could do it over again…IF ONLY!
I wish I could RE-DO a Friday. I agonized over that day. I feel like I missed an opportunity of a lifetime. But I cannot redo it. No one can fix the past. Regrets will haunt us  like the squirrel that got away…unless we choose to move on. We may have moments of falling back into the agony of IF ONLY. If only’s are usually sad tales. But we have hope; we can be more determined and not miss another opportunity if it knocks. Happy tales to you!