Ale

His name was Alejandro de las Tres Lunas – Ale, for shorty – according to the certificate we received in the box with a pink lace on it and an information card with his weight at birth, the name of his mother and his entyre  background: 

- Look ! – said mom, reading the paper- here it says the dog makes some tricks, like standing on two feet, bringing the stuff we need?, but he eats a lot.

He - no, there is no grammar mistake in here, because the members of our family considered him one new member in a short time, so it was “he" - is really special, this Alejandro – she admitted , concluding : 

- strange name for a dog isn’t it ? Well, as a matter of fact, it does not really matter – hugging the tiny and black furry schnauzer.

On that first morning he spent at home, the first thing we noticed was that he did not bark at all, not even to the doorbell that insisted three times to ring.

Nothing happened.

We were seriously considering to take it to the vet. 

- He must be sick – somebody said.

- He must be hungry – and another one brought him food.

- He is just getting used to his new house – granny observed his eyes moving according to our steps around the house, kids. Play with him ! 

So we did, throwing a little ball taken from the toys of my niece, who started to run after the ball, but, for some reason he stayed there, under the table.

 - can you believe? - he stayed the whole breakfast under the table where my niece was  having breakfast.

Some crumbs of fresh bread fell from the table.

And he simply devoured it, without leaving a single piece of bread.

It obviously became a rule at home : all from the family gave him pieces and pieces of bread, pasta cookies, meat and so on to him

How do I know that? 

- Because all of us took some food from our plates and kept the hands hid under the table while comforting him with our hand over his head, until he could fall asleep near our shoes, sniffing and smelling our feet and biting our flip flops to , after that , hide in his bed or under the couch.

On trying to get her school stuff ready, my niece found a stick in her payback.

And she just threw it to the floor. 

The dog saw that.

And run to catch it.

We were all astonished.

He – . So, it is he - just got out of under that table, three days after he realized that he could have more food in a bowl, out of that prosaic roof.

One day when he was going to chew some water in the white bowl he has – and still have it, by the way – he barked , for the first time since he was part of my family.

Such a gorgeous surprise!

All of us felt proud of him, showing our affection by kissing him and – as usual – giving him some snacks, that he – of course - did not refuse.

Then, my niece took a look at his white bowl of water : it was full of dirt from his own beard

- Does he want it to be cleaned ? – asked the short and thin grandma, in an intelligent way. 

As the fuss had already finished, she took the bowl and put some fresh and clean water, giving it to him.

First, he sniffed at the bowl.

And only after being sure that the water wax fresh and clean, he drank it 

- But this dog is really smart, we agreeded.

So smart, that every time there was no water in his white bowl, he waited as long as it could be , beside his bowl until somebody could gently change it for him and fill the bowl with water again, barking.

It happened millions of times , during the day or at night .

But, that night , specifically, he was waiting beside his bowl of water , but, differently, he did not bark 

So no one noticed about it.

We had dinner, washed the dishes and watched television as usual.

And there he was , waiting.

The time to go to bed came, so, we all went to bed and had a wonderful night of sleep – as it was a cozy autumn night.

But the dog stayed there.

Beside his bowl of water. 

The whole night.

And, not even a soul noticed that.

Next morning, the sun rose at six.

Grandma woke up, to have some tea.

And saw the dog, sleeping beside his bowl of water.

- Oh no! We forgot about you !!! – running to the kitchen to fetch some water for the dog.

He drank.

The whole bowl.

In less than a minute – soon after our leaves to our daily activities .

- Oh my ! This dog was absolutely thirsty . Poor little thing ! I promise, little fella that I will always give you water; and food too – embracing and kissing him- who obviously licked her because in my opinion he knew she was going to do it.

And she religiously did it, everyday, preparing special soup and boiling water for him.

But one day , grandmother lost her balance on her way to the bathroom.

As she had arthritis in her leg,  she once was said by the doctor that  she should take some rest at home , or at least diminish her activity it.

She did not do it, of course 

So, she was trying to get some stuff from the floor.

Her leg did not follow the step she was supposed to take and  the inevitable happened : she  fell, a big far from her walking stick, despite being a bit close or nearly  beside the phone, and called me to help her.

- Mom, let me see what I can do, because you know she knew I had no permission to leave my job.

I got nervous at the same moment.

- Oh my God! What can I do ?

One minute later, in the middle of my worry and desperation to reach a solution , I received another phone call: it was  my mother who was calling me again.

- What happened?? – I anxiously answered the phone.

- Do not worry about it , dear, cause I had already been helped.

- Really? – I had to ask, as I knew she wax probably alone at home that afternoon.

- Who did it ?

- The dog brought my walking stick, and I could stand up.

I was baffled.

How was it possible?

In despite of all my disbelief, it was possible.

What happened was that the dog used to be always around my mother, waiting for the food and the water she offered him – believe me, he did understand what she said, because he sniffed her deep and sincere feeling involved in that promise - always supported by her walking stick that the doctor said to her to use , every day .

Consequently, he was used to that wooden smell, in close relation  to the smell of food and water 

So, his bright intelligence , even without training, worked for good that day.

Since then, he became the most important member of the family, due to all his fidelity and strength.

I still remember that when I was going back home, two hours later from the happening , I past a bakery.

And stopped by.

- Fine. Here I am.

- Being conscious for the first time of my life, I brought him what he liked most : bread, a lot of it, of all sizes and tastes.

Yes, I needed to be grateful by giving him a bowl of no waiting water .

Kissing and hugging him.

Forever.