“Michael, its about time. Id advise you to see a doctor. Get your heart checked.”
“What do you mean, whats wrong with my heart?”
“It just seems to me you dont have one!”
Charlie couldnt understand why the front door, the very one he and his owner had returned through so many times after a walk, was now firmly shut. He sat across from the battered brown door, expectant and confused.
“Maybe Ive made a mistake?” he thought. “No! Of course not.” The scents reassured himthis was the place.
“I only need to wait a bit longer. My master will remember that, for some strange reason, he drove me out to the woods and left me there. It must be some game! But Ive found my way back. Now I wait!”
Snow began to fall. Charlies paws grew colder and colder. His small body shivered, his fur barely enough to keep him warm.
“Just dont think about being hungry,” he told himself. “Theyll see me soon, theyll be so happy, and then Ill get a big juicy bone…”
Trembling, the little dog wandered over to a snowbank and began to eat the snow. It melted in his mouth, quenching a little of his thirst, but left him feeling even colderif that was possible.
“Soon the door will open, Ill curl up by the big white radiator. But first, the bone. Then perhaps some broth. And after that, I can grumble at everyone for leaving me out here. Training, surely. Theyve been training me.”
“Ive searched for our courtyard for several nights. Yesterday I managed to slip through an open door just to warm up. In the morning, though, the caretaker kicked me out. I whimpered. Didnt even have the strength to bite back.”
“People are odd. When Im on a lead with my owner, nearly everyone smiles at me, stops to chat. But when Im alone, they glare, and that fellow even gave me a kick. Now my side hurts.”
Charlie gazed at the entrance for hours, motionless. No one came in or went out. He began to whimper softly, imagining himself warm and fed again.
“I just need to wait. Just a bit longer.”
A blizzard started. Charlie could scarcely feel his paws now. He curled up in a ball, mind drifting far, far away. Hed done his jobhe found his home again. It was hard, but hed succeeded. Now he could sleep…
Victor Mitchell was alone in his flat. There was plenty to do: watch some telly, have a cup of tea, then a bit more telly, another cuppa, a nap, perhaps tea again…
That was the sum of his plans today. Truth be told, he hadnt changed his routine in the last ten years. Life used to be different.
Hed once been a train driverwhisking people from the suburbs straight into the heart of London. He was a vital part of the citys lifeblood. He was needed.
“Never mind,” he told himself, “springs not far now. Ill get the garden going, and the allotment will keep me busy. Just have to get through the winter.”
He went to the kitchen and put the kettle on. Once, the boiling kettle was a cue to have a natter, a bit of a grumble. Now it felt as though life had cheated himleft him behind.
The kettle whistled. Victor reached for the teaboxnothing but an empty tin.
“Blast it,” he chuckled to himself. “Out of tea. Ill have to nip to the corner shop.” He dressed and stepped out.
The bulb in the hallway was darkburnt out, perhaps stolen again. “Ill grab a new one on the way back,” he thought.
Opening the front door, he took a step and nearly tripped over something.
“For heavens sake!” he muttered. It was a dog, half-covered in snow. The snow wasnt meltingthat was bad.
“Charlie!” Victor recognised the neighbours dog at once.
“Charlie, whats happened to you? Are you all right? Hang on, Ill buzz your owners.” He rushed to the intercom and called Charlies flat. No answer. He tried the neighbours. They picked up.
“Its Victor from number seventy-two. Any idea where the folks from sixty-four are? Their dogs nearly frozen out here!”
“They movedsplit up, I think. The flats up for sale now.”
“My word. Thank you.”
Victor quickly shrugged off his thick coat and laid it next to the dog. He brushed the snow off with a gloved hand and carefully lifted Charlie onto the coat. The dog hardly seemed to breathe.
“Come on, lad, come onbreathe!”
He dragged Charlie into the building and set him near the radiator. Then he knocked on the nearest door. Nina, his neighbour, answered.
“Victor, whats going on?”
“Nina, the dog could you please ring the closest vets and get us a cab?”
He called the old neighbours next. “Hello, this is Victor from seventy-two, Nina gave me your number.”
“Ah, hello Victor.”
“Its about Charlie.”
“Youll need to speak to Michael. I never wanted that daft dog anyway.”
“Right, well… were at the vets”
“Oh, Victor, the man cant even afford the mortgage, and he got a dog! I carried that family for years, told him to get rid of the mutt. Of course, he can’t even manage that! Goodbye!”
He called Michael.
“Hello? Michael, its Victor, your old neighbourCharlies found his way home!”
“You must be mistakenCharlie got lost in the woods.”
“Im quite sure its him.”
“Thats not possible.”
“Well you cant treat them that way, you know.”
“I dont understand!”
“I think you do. Im glad I never had neighbours like you.”
Months passed, and Charlie now lived in a new home. Hed lost the tips of his ears, and two of his paws were still sensitive to the touch, but he managed.
Charlie soon understood this wasnt a game, at least not for him. It might have been a grown-ups game, but the command for him was just die. And this time, really meant.
He came to realise he had a new owner now. They went for three walks a day. The man was getting on, and to keep him off the sofa, Charlie insisted on a bit of jogging.
“Funny creatures, these humans,” Charlie thought. “Those other ones would smile but nearly cost me my life. This one always grumblescomplains constantly. But underneath it, hes kind and caring. Charlie was no fool: bite at the unkind, love those who care!”
There was a knock on Victor Mitchells door.
“Victor, its Michael. I live with a woman nowshe has a young girl. Shed love a dog. Why dont you let me take Charlie off your hands? Sorry about everything. How much do I owe you for the vet?”
“Im not sure I understand you, Michael.”
“It just happened I never made enough money and”
“Charlie doesnt care how much you earn He got lost in the woods.”
“But look, there he is, on the blanket.”
“Thats Norris. You lost Charlie.”
“Charlie, come here!”
The dog stayed where he was on his blanket, unmoved, baring his teeth.
“Michael, its time. My advice? Go see a doctor, get your heart checked.”
“Whats wrong with my heart?”
“Seems to me you havent got one!”
Kindness doesnt just mean a smile in the street; it is what you do when someoneor somethingdepends on you most. Sometimes, loyalty and compassion come from those who say little, but love with all theyve got. Perhaps thats what makes us truly human.
