After ages the sun shone today. I’m just going to snooze the day
off.
Yawn!!! Life’s good.
Not long ago things were different. I’d hang around the shops near
here. My favourite haunt was the tiny library sandwiched between the fish shop
and the bakery. The lady who runs it is really sweet. She always had a smile
for me and a pat, fleas and all. Occasionally she’d toss me a biscuit.
I’m a friendly kind of fellow but not everyone appreciates that. Till I was a pup I was petted by lots of people. But as I grew up I sensed a change. People grew suspicious. And if I got too close they shrank from me. How that hurt!
Do you know we are cursed with an amazing sense of smell? Yes
cursed. Have you imagined what it would be like to smell fresh fish from the
fish seller? Or soft sweet buns from the bakery? Great, you think? Now imagine
them on an empty stomach. Pure torture.
Once I hadn’t had anything to eat for two whole days. By the third
day I was desperate. I hung around the fish shop hoping for a few scraps.
Nothing. I watched people carry home fresh bread and hoped they’d toss me one.
No luck. I rummaged in trash cans. All I found was plastic bags and rotten
vegetables.
Believe me when I say I’m honest guy. But that day, something
happened. It was the hunger. It blinded me, took over completely. I saw a lady
carrying a bagfull of fish and that was it. I took off with it.
The fish seller gave chase. Weak as I was, I was caught within
minutes. As blows rained on me I thought this was it. This is what’s called ‘to
die a dog’s death’. Then, suddenly, the blows stopped. I opened my eyes to see the
library lady.
She took me home, bathed my wounds and gave me food. That was the
sweetest bread I’d ever had. And she talked to me – man to man!! ‘I cannot keep
you here,’ she said. My heart sank. But then she gave me a magic collar. You
know what that means?
It means I ‘belong’.
Now, I sit proudly in front of
our
library, which is home to me, and no one dare touch me. I welcome everyone with a hearty wag of my
tail. At night I curl up on my tiny rug outside the library. I never go hungry.
Life’s good.
Wrote this for Blogaada’s WOW.. but was a few minutes late, I guess!
In any case I wanted to do this as it is inspired by a real life ‘library lady’ who adopts street dogs despite the objection of many residents around here.
