Here's the story on how Tuscie, my hero, saved my life. I was in my last apartment, also in Chicago, and Tuscie was about six months old. I had been out that night, with my dog, and we returned around 1:00am. I had a roommate at the time, who was, to say the least, flighty. I went in my room with my dog, and shut the door to eliminate the noise from the other room. As I tried to sleep, Tuscie sat at my door and whined loudly. I was used to hearing this whine when he wanted attention, and I was in no mood to play.

I tried ignoring him, which only increased his hearty whimpering. I tried reprimanding him with a harsh tone, but this only quieted him for a moment. I finally gave in, and got up to let him outside. I opened the front door and he ran right back inside. He began whining and running around the apartment, waiting for me to follow. I jokingly said, "What is it Lassie?" not realizing what I was in for.

I followed him, thinking I was being manipulated into playing a game with my dog. He led me into the dining room, where we had an old wooden dresser. He sat and waited. I asked myself what I was doing following my dog around at one in the morning, and turned around to go to bed. As I turned, I saw a gigantic flame coming from a candle that was on the dresser. The sides of the candle were high, so the flame was concealed from far away. The wick was about a centimeter away from burning through the candle, onto the dresser. My "flighty" roommate had forgotten she ever lit the candle. The candle would have burned the dresser, causing a fire. We both had planned on going to sleep, so this would have been a dangerous situation.

I went to bed, thinking it was all a coincidence. When Tuscie immediately fell asleep, knowing I was no longer in danger, was when it occurred to me that he had saved my life. And that's why Tuscie is my hero.