Stray

The streets are silenced, abandoned, like me. All I can hear is the soft pitter patter of my damp paws plodding along. My ribs show through my scruffy ruffed up fur, I’m a stray. As the moon emerges through the dark cloudy night, I decide to head for shelter before the storm reaches me. After about a short but long five minute walk I come to an abandoned burnt down Bungalow. I enter through a small opening just as the rain is about to start. The wood is rotting away and bugs swarm through roaming in the wood. Some sixth sense tells me that I’m not alone in this place; I’m not the only one here. Somebody or something is behind me lurking behind in my shadows. But it doesn’t bother me, I’m resting and that’s that! As I head out to explore (find somewhere to collapse) I come to a sudden short sharp halt. There, inches from the tip of my wet nose stands a dark figure my size and not much higher. It mirrors my every move. I stare into its cold dark eyes and my frown fades into a small friendly smile. Something tells me this dog has been through some hard times like me. After escaping a house fire and saving my owner I went home to find that they had a new dog, to replace me, she was all fluff and no bark. So I ended up here, in this place, alone. There’s something about the scars on the face of this dog or his hunched over back, I don’t feel comfortable. He is a dog though, a stray like me, yet totally different. I sigh deeply then decide to rest down on a rattered, ripped rug; at least it’s dry unlike me. The other stranger dog follows my actions. We lie down on the mat and bark to each other. I get used to his scent and he knows mine. Then we doze peacefully to rest under the shelter of the little old abandoned Bungalow. Over the days I always tell myself “At least I’ve got a friend”. The next three months pass and my friend falls ill. I don’t understand, but everyday he seems to be weaker and weaker. Then one morning he fell asleep never to awake again. I nudged him continually but it made no difference, I don’t understand. For days I just spend my time lying down beside him weeping, thanking him. But that’s life you can’t live forever, but I know one thing, he made a friend and so did I.