From Hatred to Love
Edward had always disliked dogs. It started back when he was a chubby, ginger-haired lad in his first year at primary school, spectacles perched on his nose, lugging a battered satchel weighed down with books and jotters. One afternoon, behind the terraced houses, a pack of dogs surrounded him on a derelict bit of land.
The leadera lean black mongrel with tan markings on his facelocked eyes with young Eddie.
Standing there, Eddie both sobbed and tried to beg the dogs to let him go, even tossing them the sausage sandwiches he hadnt eaten at lunchtime. But the dogs wouldnt budge.
Every time Eddie tried to move, the leader would curl up his upper lip to show those grimy yellowed fangs and growl low in his throat.
The pack kept him at bay for over two long hours. Then, suddenly, the leader flicked his right ear backwards, pricked up as if he heard something, and then bolted off in the direction of the woods behind the waste ground.
One after another, the dogs followed him in a neat line, disappearing among the trees.
Wiping away his tears, Eddie clutched his satchel tightly and sprinted home.
But when he got there, he found only chaos. The old wooden council block where he lived with his family and a handful of neighbours was going up in flamesa gas heater had exploded.
His great-granddad, whom Eddie had always called “Granddad Jim,” died in the fire.
Granddad Jim had been a sailor once; the sea and the winds had toughened him. His beard and moustache were dazzling whitehed only shave it all off once a year, just after the New Year celebrations. Then, as it grew back, hed braid it into a little plait, tie it with a colourful band, or, on occasion, simply tuck it behind his ear.
For months after losing Granddad Jim and that run-in with the dogs, Eddie stammered badly.
It was a few years later, now a skinny teenage boy who’d traded thick glasses for contact lenses, when a street dog bothered him again. Eddie was walking his schools most sought-after girlCharlotte Blakehome after class. Charlotte caught everyones eye, and Tommy Green, the toughest troublemaker in Year 10, had taken a liking to her. Everyone feared Tommy, yet there Eddie was, walking with Charlotte.
Suddenly, a huge, scruffy dog appeared out of nowhere, snarling and shoving Eddie away from Charlotte as if to guard her. Eddie, tense with nerves and uncertainty, slowly backed off, yielding to the dogs push. Once Charlotte slipped around the corner into her block of flats, the dog melted away.
Eddie let out a sigh and trudged home.
The next day in maths, he got a notejust three sentences:
“Dont follow me. Yesterday Tommy wanted to beat you up. Sorry.”
Any hope of friendship with Charlotte fizzled, and Eddie harboured an even grimmer resentment for dogs.
Years passed. Edward grew up, got an excellent education, and started his own business. Things took off for him: money flowed in, and he built the right connections. Soon, family life came together too. Beautiful Charlottenow Charlotte Blakebecame his wife, and they had a wonderful son, Jamie, named after beloved Granddad Jim. Jamie, just eight months old, didnt speak yet but always grinned at passing dogs from his pushchair, waving and chirping, Woof, woof!
One Sunday, Edward took Jamie for a walk in the park. Ambling along, Edward told Jamie about the birds as they scattered seed in a feeder, and about the squirrelsone even scampered down a spruce trunk to nibble nuts straight from Edwards palm.
It was time to head home. Exiting the park, Edward pushed the pram towards the crossing and waited patiently for the green man before stepping forward.
Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a frantic little dachshund dashed up, yapping relentlessly and blocking Edwards way, barking wildly as if its voice would give out any second.
At that moment, a car screeched pastjust inches from the pushchairshot up over the curb on the other side, and crashed right into a lamppost.
A bunch of teenagers tumbled out and ran off in every direction.
Edwards heart pounded so hard he thought everyone could hear it, struggling to catch his breath.
The dachshund had vanished. People started running over to the crashed car. A passerby gripped Edwards elbow, concern etched on his face.
“Are you alright? The car didnt hit the pram, did it?” he stammered.
Edward, still shaking, just managed to shake his headJamie and the pram were fine. Everything was alright.
He couldnt even remember how he made it home. He didnt mention the incident to Charlottewhy worry her when it all ended well? But later, Edward found himself thinking about the ginger dachshund that had saved Jamie.
That evening, he was quiet, replaying the three big moments involving dogs. He realisedthey were never out to harm him; in their own way, they’d been there to protect him. Charlotte watched him softly, puzzled by his silence, but didnt pry.
Before bedtime they all went downstairs for fresh air. A group of neighbours was gathered near one of the benches at the far end of the courtyard. As Edward walked past, he overheard:
“So what now, then? Whod take care of a thing like that?”
Glancing over his neighbours shoulder, Edward saw a cardboard box on the bench. Inside, a tiny chocolate-brown puppy whimpered, turning its little head from side to side. It had no eyeslikely a birth defect. People muttered quietly, glancing uneasily at the abandoned pup. Charlotte, pushing the pram, had gone a bit ahead and was waiting for him at a distance.
“What on earth will we do?”
“Who could take in a handicapped pup like that?”
“I dont think I could” the whispers drifted around.
Edward edged closer to the bench. The puppy, no bigger than his hand, whimpered pitifully, shifting in search of its mothers warmth.
For a moment, Edward stood frozen, and then, without another thought, unwound his scarfspring air might have softened, but it was still bracing, especially at night.
Gently, using both hands, he scooped up the little pupeven its back legs were bent awkwardly. A woman among the neighbours gasped, and he thought he heard her softly crying.
Carefully, Edward wrapped the blind puppy in his scarf, cradled it like a newborn, and said,
“Right then, little one, looks like its my turn now. Come on, time to meet our mum. Shes wonderfuland always has some milk waiting in the fridge for new friends.”
And so, Edward started off towards the lovely young woman beside the pushchair, who turned to him with gentle, loving eyes.
