Girl, Dog and Popsicle

She sat on the bench and looked at the Dog, and he was looking at her. It was an ordinary dog. It had thick fur and one raised ear which, unlike the rest of the body, was black while from the tip of the muzzle to the end of the tail it was completely white. Except for a few stains of crusty mud. Why is he looking at me like that? she asked herself as she watched him in amazement over her colorful popsicle. She had no idea she would get an answer to that question in just a few moments. She stopped staring at the Dog because he was now limping towards her no longer looking at her but her popsicle. Everything was clear to her then, but it was too late to save her popsicle, which had already completely melted and fallen on the lawn where the bench was. It has now become pink and green juice and something that looked like colorful, semi-melted snow. The dog now stood right before her feet and shamelessly licked the multicolored puddle. When he finished, he looked at the girl with his big colorful eyes, one blue and the other light brown. The way he looked at her let her know he was a stray dog. A true master of begging from the people in the park. Now he looked skinny and miserable even though, it seemed to her, the park was full of potential donors of muffins and hot dogs. Instead of continuing in search of some soft heart to feed him, he decided to sit directly in front of the girl so that his snout touched her knees every time he turned towards the path to measure up to another dog that happened to pass by. He approached her closer and closer until he put his whole head in her lap and continued to act like someone who has no problem with respect of someone's personal space. 

She didn't mind having the Dogs head in her lap, but she did mind that his nose and muzzle were still dirty of popsicle leftovers he just ate. When she stirred to gently tell the Dog to move away from her, he jumped up and took her purse in his mouth and started running. Only then did she notice how old the Dog really was. He was fast for his age, it had to be admitted to him, but he held his tail tightly and limped on his back right paw. Saliva flowed from his gray snout wetting her purse. He looked like he would like to be followed. So she followed him. Although he was fast, she didn't have to hurry too much to keep up with him. She had no idea how she would take away from him what he had previously taken from her, but she was sure that his teeth would not prevent her much from doing so because he barely had any left. She followed him like that until the end of the park and even further. Something told her that she should let the Dog guide her, or at least she hoped that in the end she would let go of her purse without having to bribe him with a bone. They crossed the sidewalk that stretched around the entire park, and then stood at a traffic light, with the Dog constantly insisting that there was at least a few meters of distance between the two in case the Girl decided to take what belonged to her by force. After they crossed the street, the Dog took her down a dark alley that she would never enter voluntarily under normal circumstances. Next to one wall slept a woman on dirty cardboard surrounded by sacks of plastic bottles. At the very end of the dead end street, there was an person wrapped in blankets, which was strange considering the weather conditions and the fact that it was summer. 

When they got a little closer, she saw that it was an older man who in best case looked bad. The dog stood beside him, spitting her purse out of his toothless jaw. He lowered his tail, even more and began to whimper softly. It was now clear to the Girl why the Dog wanted to follow him. She was afraid. The Man in front of her was homeless. He looked just like person she was taught to stay away from, but she still came closer to him. From a distance, it seemed to her that he was not breathing or moving. She thought he was dead. She dared to check if he was breathing just in case. He was. That was good for a start. The dog wanted the Man to be saved, so it was up to her to do as much as one girl could. She put her hand on his forehead and then all the previous hope she felt suddenly subsided and burst like a balloon. The Man had really high fever. There was nothing she could do for him but call an ambulance and feed the Dog. She picked up the phone from the drooling purse she had picked up from the floor. While the phone was ringing, she went to check the name of the street they were on. She had to admit that it didn't take them long to come and pick up the Man. They asked her if the Man had a family and similar questions, and then, with the loud sound of a siren, they left the alley and left the Girl and the Dog all alone. Now it was the Girl's turn to guide the Dog. She took him to the supermarket and bought him a bag of food for senior dogs, at least that's what was written on the package, all the dog food was the same for her, and it seemed to her that the Dog wouldn't mind too much if she bought him any other one. He looked at the gooey food she was pouring on some of the advertisements she had taken from the store. On them was a picture (before she poured food over them) of a family of five. The father and mother watched with love their two children and the dog who stood contentedly in the middle and proudly showed off his leash which, according to the advertisement, was very cheap. Behind them was a house, and next to it stood an inflatable pool. Next to everything shown on that page was the price, but everything looked perfect and somehow idyllic. She wondered if the man and the Dog had ever had a family and a house and a blue inflatable pool that they enjoyed together until some evil fate deprived them of that beauty that can only be seen in the perfection of this picture or they may have met when they had both already lost everything that could be lost, so they kept each other's heads above water, helping to keep the other from sinking and dragging both of them down. Now it seemed that the man would sink, and the Dog will go down with him. There is nothing she can do about it, but at least she can feed the Dog and keep him company in moments filled with sadness and confusion which lie ahead of him. She stroked him and went home. He did not try to follow her, he knew that she was going to her home and that he was not welcome there as he had not been in his previous one.

The next day, the girl called the hospital to check on the Man. Every day she received the answer that his condition was improving very little and very slowly. Every day she would tell the news to the Dog, she stroked him, feed him and went her own way while the dog went his own. That unpleasant sad silence lasted for a week. On the seventh day, instead of calling, the girl received a call that the Man had passed away. The Lady who called her thanked her for trying to help her father. She told her it was much more than she had done in his lifetime, and then she started crying. Girl was confused but she still listened to Lady’s cries. Girl was not sure if she should ask the Lady about the Dog and what she should do with him. So, she didn’t. 

On the day of the funeral, the girl just stopped by to express her condolences and bring the Dog, which immediately stuck to the man's grave. When the Girl asked what to do with the Dog, the Lady told her that she did not care about dog and that she can whatever she wants with it. The dog did not want to leave the cemetery, so she left him to mourn in peace.

Months passed, and the Dog no longer came to the park. Sometimes, when the road led the Girl past the cemetery, in the distance she seemed to see the black ear above the gray tombstones. She wondered if the man would also get one or if his grave would remain marked only with a cross with his name and date of birth and death.

One day she decided to visit the man's resting place and found the Dog there. He was much thinner than the last time she had seen him. He didn't move. When she approached him and stroked him he was cold to the touch. She knew he was old and would die soon, but she was still inexplicably struck by his death. A cemetery Guard passed by her and stopped to see what was happening. When he asked the girl the reason for her grief, she did not answer but asked him for a piece of bacon from the sandwich. Confused, he handed it to her, shrugging. She squinted her eyes and shoved the bacon under the Dog's nose. Nothing happened at first. She lost all hope and for the moment she felt like she lost the ground under her feet. Then the Dog slowly opened his eyes, and when he realized what was being offered to him, he widened them and grabbed the bacon together with the Girl's fingers. He looked at the Girl and wagged his tail for the first time after the Man died.

"Come on, Dog," said the Girl, calling to him as the first snow slowly began to fall. The dog just looked at her and wagged his tail, but he didn't move.

 "Come on, Dog," she repeated. "Let's go home." At the word home, the Dog waved his tail weakly and slowly got up and approached the Girl.

The Guard watched them slowly move away from the cemetery. 

The Dog is finally going home.