Hey everyone!
My name’s Charlie, and for a long time I lived with the most amazing family ever.
I had everything I needed – tasty snacks and all the love and belly rubs a dog could
ask for!
But one day everything changed...
It was just another ordinary day – I woke my humans up, had breakfast, and was about
to take a nap when my best friend in the world, Jenny, said that we have to go.
Yay, I guess we were up for an adventure!
When I jumped to my seat in the car, I was really excited – where were we going this
time?
What were we gonna do?
It must be something really special!
I love being in the car, so the next few minutes were the best.
Jenny turned on cool music, and I stuck my head out to see all the buildings and trees
passing by.
The only thing that bothered me was that she was on her phone the whole time.
The car finally stopped, and I jumped out to stretch my legs and run around a little.
We were in the biggest most beautiful field I'd ever seen.
Oh, I get it, we were about to go for a walk, right?
But as I started sniffing around and looking for a fun stick to play with, Jenny jumped
back in the car and quickly drove away.
Okay...
Maybe this was a whole new level of hide-and-seek we loved to play in the house?
Or maybe it was like that movie we saw together when one dog waited for their owner to get
back every day?
I assumed that was it, and I just had to wait for Jenny to come back!
Then she'd give me a treat for being a “good boy,” as she always said, and we'd go back
home!
So I did what I had to do – I waited for Jenny, watching other cars passing by.
The next car would be Jenny's...
Okay, not that one, but the next one had to be hers...or not…
It was getting darker, and a wild thought popped into my head: what if Jenny wasn’t
coming back?
At that moment I realized that I should probably go back home on my own, so I started walking.
It was getting even darker and colder, and I was really hungry.
After some time, I came across a garbage can and couldn't help but look inside.
Somebody left a couple of hotdogs in there!
They definitely didn’t smell fresh, but I was so hungry that I gulped them up and
kept walking home.
All this time I couldn't help but wonder what I’d done wrong, what were they punishing
me for?
I was kinda bad lately, true, but they were always cool about that.
It was starting to get really late and I was so tired that I decided to sleep for a while.
I found a dirty rug of some sort next to some other garbage cans, got under it to keep at
least a little bit warm, and fell asleep.
I woke up to the sound of beeping horns.
What?
What was going on?
Why had I fallen asleep under a rug?
Anyway, it was time to wake Jenny and Michael up!
Plus, I had a weird dream last night...
But as I got out from under the rug, I realized that it wasn't a dream – this really did
happen.
I felt so lonely, abandoned, and hungry.
I found another almost rotten snack on the ground and decided to keep walking.
I eventually got to this place with tons of people walking by and cars everywhere.
I was completely lost!
Some of the humans just gave me a weird look and walked around me, others tried to pet
me – I felt so scared and overwhelmed by the whole thing that I ran and hid in the
first alley I could find!
But there I faced another problem...
There were two other dogs in there!
They definitely didn’t seem happy to see me.
One of them slowly came closer to me and started sniffing.
“Hey, I'm just trying to find my home!
I’ll just be on my way now...”
“What home?” one of them said.
I told them the whole story about me and Jenny.
I explained how I got there and asked them whether they saw a house like mine nearby.
When I finished, the other one said, “You know that they abandoned you, right?”
“What?
No they didn't!
They’d never do something like that!
It's just a misunderstanding.
They're looking for me.”
“No they're not,” the other dog chimed in.
“We've been through this too.”
Turned out both of them were in the same situation.
The dog who first approached me, Rocky, said that one day his loving family just packed
their bags, got in the car, and drove away, leaving him behind just like my Jenny did.
And Oscar was born in a big house along with his brothers and sisters.
He was an awkward puppy and didn't understand everything as fast as his siblings.
So before he realized what was going on, his humans left him on the street as well.
So now it was official – Jenny and Michael really did just throw me away like a piece
of garbage!
To be honest, that was the most awful feeling in the world, and these two knew exactly how
I felt.
How could people we loved so much betray us like that?
But we still loved our humans, still hoped they’d come find us – we couldn’t hate
them, that’s just impossible for us dogs!
From that moment on, me, Rocky, and Oscar became best friends.
Every morning every single one of us went in different directions to find something
good like food or something to keep us warm at night.
We had each other’s backs, looked out for the people with nets that tried to take us
away in their big van, and stuck together like a real team.
Actually, like a family….
One of our favorite spots to check for food was outside this little diner.
Jenny and Michael sometimes went to places like that.
One day a human lady noticed me waiting in the corner as she was throwing out some food.
By that time, I had learned that, unfortunately, not all humans are nice – some of them couldn't
wait for me to get out of their space or yelled at me to “Get!”
But this lady gave me a huge smile and said “You hungry, little guy?
Wait just a sec.”
Then she came back with a little plate of the tastiest-looking piece of meat I'd ever
seen!
But what if it was a trap?
I didn't move.
She smiled again and said “You don't have to be afraid of me.
But if you're scared, I'll just leave it right here.”
As soon as she left, I ate it up in one bite, completely forgetting about my buddies.
It was the best food I’d had in weeks!
Still, I found some other great snacks around and brought them to my friends for dinner.
I kept going back to that diner, and I found out that this lady was named Alison and she
was a cook there.
But I still didn't wanna come closer to her.
Every day she told me one fact about herself, left food for me, and went back to her kitchen.
After some time I realized that I trusted her enough to take the food right away.
She was really surprised but smiled at me as always and pet me on the back.
Then one day, she looked at me and asked “Listen, buddy.
Would you like to come live with me?
You look like you really need a home.”
I was so surprised, overwhelmed, and happy at the same time, I could only lick her hand
to say that I really wanted to.
That day she took me to her small but cozy apartment, and we've been best buds ever since!
Alison and I live in the same neighborhood as the alley I spent my nights in, so I sometimes
see my old buddies, Rocky and Oscar.
Unfortunately, they’re still out on the streets because they haven't met their Alison
yet.
But they still believe that everything will change, and they’ll eventually find someone
who loves them.
And I just hope that one day I'll see them walking next to their favorite humans’ sides
and looking happy again!
So, what do you think about my story?
Tell me in the comment section below.
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Stay on the Bright Side of life!