RAINBOW BRIDGE VARIATION
Unlike most days at the Rainbow Bridge, this day dawned cold and gray. All
the recent arrivals at the Bridge did not know what to think, as they had never
seen such a day. But the animals who had been waiting longer for their
beloved people to accompany them across the Bridge knew what was happening, and they
began to gather at the pathway leading to the Bridge.
Soon an elderly dog came into view, head hung low and tail dragging. He
approached slowly, and though he showed no sign of injury or illness, he was in
great emotional pain. Unlike the animals gathered along the pathway, he had not
been restored to youth and vigor upon arriving at the Bridge. He felt out of
place, and wanted only to cross over and find happiness.
But as he approached the Bridge, his way was barred by an angel, who
apologized and explained that the tired and broken-spirited old dog could not cross
over. Only those animals accompanied by their people were allowed to cross the
Bridge. Having nobody, and with nowhere else to turn, the dog trudged into the
field in front of the Bridge.
There he found others like himself, elderly or infirm, sad and discouraged.
Unlike the other animals waiting to cross the Bridge, these animals were not
running or playing. They simply were lying in the grass, staring forlornly at
the pathway across the Rainbow Bridge. The old dog took his place among them,
watching the pathway and waiting, yet not knowing what he was actually waiting
for. One of the newer dogs at the Bridge asked a cat who had been there
longer to explain what was happening. The cat replied, "Those poor animals were
abandoned, turned away, or left at rescue places, but never found a home on
earth. They all passed on with only the love of a rescuer to comfort them.
Because they had no people to love them, they have nobody to escort them across the
Rainbow Bridge."
The dog asked the cat, "So what will happen to those animals?" Before the
cat could answer, the clouds began to part and the cold turned to bright
sunshine. The cat replied, "Watch, and you will see."
In the distance was a single person, and as she approached the Bridge the
old, infirm and sad animals in the field were bathed in a golden light. They
were all at once made young and healthy, and stood to see what their fate would
be. The animals who had previously gathered at the pathway bowed their heads
as the person approached.
At each bowed head, the person offered a scratch or hug. One by one, the now
youthful and healthy animals from the field fell into line behind the person.
Together, they walked across the Rainbow Bridge to a future of happiness and
unquestioned love. The dog asked the cat, "What just happened?"
The cat responded, "That was a rescuer."
The animals gathered along the pathway bowing in respect were those who had
found their forever homes because of rescuers. They will cross over when their
people arrive at the Bridge. The arrival here of a rescuer is a great and
solemn event, and as a tribute they are permitted to perform one final act of
rescue. They are allowed to escort all those poor animals they couldn't place on
earth across the Rainbow Bridge and into Heaven."
The dog thought for a moment, then said, "I like rescuers." The cat smiled
and replied, "So does heaven, my friend. So does heaven.
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