……And then there was silence

 “Please don’t do it”, “please don’t leave me here”, ‘I will be a good boy from now on”. These desperate cries of Milo could be heard all over the downtown street. But no one cared and no one was listening, because humans don’t yet possess the technology that could translate a dog’s cry for help, they don’t have a translator that could translate the feelings of trust, love and happiness a dog possess for their humans. To them they are just “barks”, annoying barks.               

Milo was a 4-year-old playful dog, still young, but not young enough to be called a puppy anymore. This was it; this was Milo’s crime; he was growing up and was getting less interesting, cuddly and cute for his owner’s kids. Therefore, today they have finally decided to drop Milo off at a nearby shelter and go search for another toy for their kids.

Milo’s leash was handed over to one of the shelter’s employee and his owner turned his back on him and started walking out the door. This is when Milo tried for one last time to chase his owner and stop him from leaving, just like he used to do when they were leaving for office every morning. Milo yanked off the leash from employee’s hand and ran infront of his human. He then playfully stretched his front paws out and raised his lower back. “This will stop him from going, I am sure it will!”, Milo was repeating this last hopeful sentence again and again in his mind, praying that his human will pick him up, kiss him on his forehead and tell him to, “hang tight, while daddy comes back from work”. Seeing Milo infront of him, his owner bend down. Milo was joyous, happy and excited to feel his human’s lips on his forehead and to finally go back home. This is what Milo expected, but Milo was about to find out that why expectations from humans hurt the most.

Milo’s human bent down, but not to pick him up but instead he picked up his leash from the ground and handed it over to the employee saying that, “would you please lock this stupid dog up already!”  He then left the store in rage, leaving behind a confused dog, who was still staring at the door and whispering to himself, “I am not stupid, I am Milo, you named me yourself, remember!”

Milo’s leash was then pulled, he was dragged along the shelter’s warm and dark tiles. Milo wanted to escape but he had no strength, not because he was hungry or tired, but because he was broken.

Shelter’s employee opened one of the empty cages and pushed Milo inside. Milo’s face smashed against the cold metal of the cage and he let out a whimpering sound. The cage was then closed and Milo sat down in a corner, alone with not a single shred of hope that could help him raise his head once again.

“sniff sniff”

Oliver (while sniffing Milo from outside his cage): “Is he dead?”

Lola: “He is not dead; he is just tired that poor thing?”

Oliver (overly excited): “Tired? What does tire mean Lola? Is it short for being dead?”

Lola: Not everything is short for dead Oli.”

As, this extremely important conversation was taking place just outside of Milo’s cage. He woke up from all the commotion and was greeted by the drooling face of a bulldog (Oliver), who somehow managed to slide his fat neck into Milo’s cage.

Oliver: “Hello there, partner!”

Milo (in shock yelled and took a few steps back): “AAAAHHHHHHH!”

Oliver: “AAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

Milo: “AAAAAHHHHHH!”

Oliver: “AAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

Lola: “Enough you idiots! You both are scary.”

The competition of screams was finally put to rest with Lola’s interference. Milo was still in shock while Oliver was trying to get his fat neck out of the cage.

Milo (with frightened face): “who are you guys?”

Lola: “Hello, there kid! My name is Lola, the poodle and this numb head here is Oliver. What is your name?” 

Oliver (finally manages to get his neck out of cage bars): “Hello there! I am Oliver, the smartest bulldog in all of Europe”.

Lola: “We live in north America, you idiot!”

Oliver (proudly): “I am talking about the country not the entire continent.”

Lola (wanted to say something but stopped in mid-sentence): …… (sighs) you know what, I am not going to waste my entire day on this. You are right Oli; you are the smartest one in the entire Europe.

Oliver (with his tongue hanging out): “I Low!”

Milo was listening to both Lola and Oliver with a confused face, but when he had enough, he finally decided to jump into this meaningful conversation.

Milo: ummm! Excuse me, (Oliver and Lola stopped in mid conversation and focused their attention towards Milo) Ummm! (Milo with fear and confusion on his face) Who are you again and where did you come from?

Oliver (whispering to Lola): “I think he is SPECIAL!”

Lola: “Congratulations! You got yourself a brother”.

Oliver (with a smile to Lola): “Well, thankyou Madam!.......hey, wait a minute!”

Lola (not paying attention to Oliver, came a little close to Milo): “Don’t be afraid dear. My name is Lola and we are the other dogs, who live in this pound. It was play time so we were all in the back yard.”

Milo (again with confused face): “All of you? How many of you are here?”

Lola: “Come see for yourself!”

Milo cautiously took a few steps forward and came out of the darkness of the cage into a little strip of light from an old incandescent bulb hanging from the rusty bonnet shaped roof, that was illuminating just about a quarter of Milo’s cage. Milo, finally peaked out of the cage and his eyes widened with surprise when he saw at least a dozen dogs in the shed.

Oliver managed to stop his drooling for a moment to open Milo’s cage with his mouth. “Come on out, buddy! Say hello to everyone”, said Oliver. “I can’t”, said Milo nervously.

Lola: “Of course you can, we are not going to bite”.

Milo: “I can’t”

Oliver (again persisted): “oh come on, don’t be a little puppy. Come on out”

Lola: “Hey, don’t tease him he will come out when he is ready. Go on rest up kid”

Oliver and Lola then decided to leave the disturbed young dog alone, for he had a very rough day. While, Milo slowly backed himself in the corner once again. Away from the light and the life.

The day passed, all the dogs were caged once again and the sun finally set. Now, the only source of light in the shed was one vintage filament bulb that was operated using pull chain. Employees locked up everything and went back home with only one guard in the front office eating Chinese and listening to Justin Bieber (the deadliest combination on this planet).

Suddenly, the clouds thundered with all their might and in just few seconds the dripping sound of rain water falling from the cracks of the shed on to its concrete floor broke the silence of emptiness. Milo was asleep in his cage and his ears were wiggling with the rhythmic sound of dripping water. Milo was enjoying these therapeutic sounds when suddenly another (not so pleasant) sound ruined his quality time.

It was sound of multiple cage doors opening. Milo’s ears stood up and he decided to take a look out his cage. The narrow pathway created between the cages that were placed against the parallel walls of the shed was lightly lit by the roof bulb. Milo slowly took a few steps forward and peaked out. He saw multiple cage doors getting opened and all of the dogs moving towards the back of the shed.

Milo was still witnessing this strange phenomenon when suddenly, something smashed against his cage. Milo jumped back in fear and was about to yell at the top of his lungs, when he saw the drool falling down on the floor from this “thing” that just appeared out of nowhere. This is when Milo realized that he has seen this drool before. It was Oliver.

Oliver (with a smile that was showing all of his 42 teeth): “Hello their buddy!”

Milo (took a deep sigh and whispered): “What the hell are you doing and what is happening here?”

Oliver (chuckled): “Didn’t mean to scare you buddy!”

Lola: “Hey! Come on out. Its story night”.

After inviting Milo, Oliver and Lola also joined other dogs and started moving towards the back of the shed. Milo, half afraid and half curious was still trying to decide whether to get out of his safe place and follow the other dogs or just let the moon slowly turn into sun and let this nightmare pass.

Finally, curiosity and adrenaline rush overpowered fear and Milo decided to take a look at what was happening.

Milo came out of his cage and started moving towards the back of the shed where all the dogs were marching too. After reaching there, Milo saw that all the dogs were sitting in a circle (like they were possessed) with a lit torch placed at the very center. Milo was trying to swallow this horrific scene when suddenly the lighting and thunder of the clouds made things more poetic. “I am out of here”, said Milo to himself and he turned around to go back to his cage. But Lola and Oliver were already standing right behind him. They both shoved Milo into the circle and both of them sat on each side of him, preventing him from escaping. Milo had a lot of questions, but Lola and Oliver were not ready to answer any of them.

After few minutes, dogs from one side of the circle started to squeeze in a little, so much so that a pathway was created. Seeing this, Oliver exclaimed with joy, “here he comes.” “here who comes?”, said Milo. “Sshhhh”, replied Oliver.

Milo then looked towards the pathway and saw that a Labrador came from behind some empty boxes. This golden Labrador was an old player, he was about 9 years old but his golden coat was so shiny that it would easily put natural blondes to shame.

This golden Labrador then entered the circle and the dogs that squeezed a pathway, finally relaxed and closed the circle once again.

Milo (whispered): “who is he?”

Oliver (in excitement and sparkle in his eyes): “he is ……”

Lola: ……Mr. Copper”

Milo: “who”?

Mr. Cooper (with heavy voice): "I am Mr. Coopppperrr…...cough cough! Sorry about that kid. Age is getting to my lungs ….…cough cough. (in a joyous voice) Well, who is this young fellow?"

Lola (with excitement): "He just came in today Mr. Copper!'

Mr. Copper: "Well! New fellow, why don’t you come in the circle and introduce yourself."

“I think I will pass”, said Milo. But Lola and Oliver pushed him forward. “Well don’t be afraid. Go on”, said Mr. Cooper. After so much persuasion, Milo finally decided to broke his vow of silence.

Milo (with hesitation): "My name is Milo and I am four years old. I have a family; we live across the park with a big tree in it. Well, (Milo’s voice started to break) ……. I …. I used to live there. But now, they don’t want me anymore (sob)……...and I am all alone."

Milo started crying after that last sentence and there was not a single dog in that crowd that didn’t felt that pain. Why wouldn’t they? They all had been through the same pain at some point in their lives.

Mr. Cooper (sympathetically, put his one paw on Milo’s head): "There! There! Little kid, you are not alone. Look around, we all are here and we will always will be with you no matter what. You know why?"

Milo looked towards Mr. Copper with tears falling down his eyes in sync with the rain drops.

Mr. Copper: "Because we all are alone too. We all are afraid, and that’s why we all are a family. Because it’s not blood that makes a family, it’s emotions and there is no emotion stronger than the fear of being alone."

Mr. Copper (in cheering voice): "We at Tammy’s shelter welcome our new family member, MILO!!!"

Everyone started cheering and luckily their cheering voices (barks) were muffled by the heavy rain and Justin Bieber’s revolutionary lyrics. This warm welcome made Milo smile and Mr. Copper’s paw on his head felt like the forehead kiss he has been longing for the entire day.

Days went by, Milo became friends with all the other dogs but Mr. Copper became his best friend. Milo talked to Mr. Copper for hours and ask him about his past story, especially the rubber ball Mr. Copper used to chew on all the time. But Mr. Copper always used to tell a different story about how he got the ball. Milo was happy with his new home, friends and of course Mr. Copper and all the stories he used to tell every Friday night at the back of shed. So much so, that a whole year passed.

But nothing in life is permanent and Milo was about to experience this.

A year later Mr. Cooper’s health started to decline, he was getting really old. In just a week, he was about to turn 10. He tried to look strong in front of the kids but other dogs knew that he was sick.

Just a day before his 10^th birthday Mr. Copper was basking in the sun, when he called Milo.

Mr. Cooper (whispering): “Milo, I want to tell you a secret.”

Milo: “A secret?”

Mr. Copper (in a secretive tone): “I am going to escape tomorrow!”

Milo (shocked): “Escape?”

Mr. Cooper: “Well, for a few hours, I just wanted to go see the family I used to live with, on my 10^th birthday.”

Milo: “What if you get caught?”

Mr. Cooper: “No I Won’t! I have been planning this for ages. Well, for few months……those are ages in dog years (chuckled). I have dug a hole by the fence and tomorrow I will escape from there.”

Milo: “Well! Then I will go with you.”

Mr. Cooper (with a smile): “No Milo! You can’t. it’s my journey not yours.”

Milo tried his best to convince Mr. Copper but he didn’t give him the permission. But this was not going to stop Milo from going on this adventure with Mr. Copper. Besides he wanted to see that why would Mr. Copper want to see the family who left him behind.

Next day during play time Mr. Cooper cautiously got out the pound through the fence hole and when he raised his head Milo was already there waiting for him on the other side. “I know I know; this is your adventure but I am going with you”, said Milo.

Mr. Copper didn’t say a word, he just smiled and started walking down the street. Milo of course followed him and didn’t say a word, for he was afraid that he had made Mr. Copper angry.

Both of them walked for about two miles, when Milo looked behind, he could hardly see the tall buildings of the main street now.

Milo: "How much more Mr. Copper?"

Mr. Copper shushed Milo and they continued to walk. After walking for few more minutes Milo and Mr. Copper came a across a cemetery. Mr. Copper entered the cemetery and Milo followed him. After passing a few graves, they came across a grey tombstone, that read,

 “Michelle

The angle that went back

6^th July 2002 – 9^th August 2012”

Mr. Cooper stood beside the tombstone and silently whispered, “Michelle I am here”.

Milo (in confused tone): “Mr. Cooper?”

Mr. Copper (looked towards Milo and smiled): "Milo, not all of them leave you by choice. Sometimes they don’t have a choice. She was five when she and her dad found me in their backyard. I was afraid, alone…just like you were (chuckles). But the moment she placed her small gentle hands on my forehead, I knew that my wait was over.”

"She was really sick. She fought though; she was very strong (Mr. Cooper smiled with pride). One day she went out with her parents but never came back……... That was the last time I saw her.”, said Mr. Cooper.

Milo was silently listening to Mr. Copper and then he said, “that ball…...”. “That was her favorite ball……I can still smell her jam covered hands from it.” Said Mr. Copper (with a smile). “Don’t hate them Milo, not all of them are bad. One day you will find someone…...(chuckles) one day you will find your Michelle”.

Mr. Copper fell down on the ground. He didn’t have any strength left in him. Milo ran towards him and tried to support his chin using his head, but it was too late. It was nearly the end.

Mr. Copper (whispered in a weak voice): “It’s okay Milo”.

Milo (in a shaking voice with tears flowing from his eyes): “Please don’t do it”, “Please don’t leave me”.

Mr. Copper (in a faint weak voice): “I will be with you, as long as you will remember me Milo”.

Mr. Cooper (faint chuckle): “she was also ten when she went”.

Mr. Cooper took a long deep breath and then he went to sleep. He was calm, he was relaxed. Why wouldn’t he be? After all he was sleeping with his head in Michelle’s lap.

Milo cried as long as there were tears in his eyes. After that he sat beside Mr. Copper, with a smile on his face and wetness in his eyes. He knew that he will have to leave eventually, but right now he had no strength in his legs and right now he was just enjoying his friend’s company and the silence around him.