Gurgi

A small puppy, just a few months old, walked weakly through the dimly lit sidewalk looking for something to eat. Everyone ignored him —either they were glued to their phones or simply didn’t care. He walked and walked, becoming more tired with each step. The light around him started to go out, but many loud screeches made him jump and stop right there, bringing him back.

To his left, a small child came running without giving a second thought to the many cars who could have hit him. His parents, apologizing to all, followed behind.

When the four of them were together, while the adults were shouting and crying, the child kept looking down at the puppy. After a while, the only thing he said was “Can we keep him?” Now they understood the reason for nearly becoming childless. His son, Daniel, wasn’t listening to anything they were saying and was only waiting for the opportunity to ask. That sudden realization changed their approach to the conversation. They discussed about not being a good idea; about taking him to a vet. Daniel, never giving up on the mission, promised to take care of Gurgi —that name was given even before his parents agreed— to infinity. The adults lost the battle. The son thanked to infinity.

 Now in the back of their car, wrapped in the jacket of the one who showed him kindness, Gurgi waited, listening to Carlos and Mariel discussing about the new member of the family.

Weeks went by and the bond between the four of them grew. At first, Gurgi was hesitant to walk into the big house, to walk on the slippery floor; but some pasta —a little every Friday— and a bed twice as big as him next to Daniel’s made him change his mind.

Every morning, he waited by the door —sometimes after destroying the pieces of paper that someone kept throwing in—, biting his leash, so Carlos would take him to the park. Every afternoon, when Daniel came back, they played in the garden with a striped ball. He was bathed once a week. Life was perfect.

Weeks turned into a month. A trip to the countryside was in order. Gurgi only knew the strange and sometimes overwhelming smells and sounds of the city; he had never waged his tail so hard until that moment, when there was no noise, when he breathed pure air.

The car stopped. Everyone climbed out of the car. Gurgi sat down, waiting patiently for his leash. Confused, he turned his head sideways when he realized it wasn’t there. Daniel saw him and said “Run.” Gurgi flew so fast, tripping over and over. The wind pulled back his ears and tongue. Absolute joy came over him when he reached the lake. Nothing else could compare to that moment.

At dusk, all tired, they sat down and ate pasta.

The journey back home was calm. They arrived late, wanting to forget every problem for a while. However, one came up: Gurgi had mud from the nose to the tip of the tail. They didn’t want to bathe him at that hour, nor leave him inside like that. Daniel fought against the idea, but his parents decided to put Gurgi’s bed outside. They put some towels underneath it and covered him with blankets. That was the second time in the day he was confused.

He walked to the back door and waited there. When nothing happened, he started scratching and howling. There wasn’t an answer. Defeated, Gurgi walked back to his bed. However, during that path, he discovered something new —a small whole in the fence. He approached it, smelled it, and ignored it. After his inspection, covering himself, he waited for the next day to arrive.

Gurgi opened his eyes, walked out of the small wooden house in the garden and stretched. Months turned into a few years. During that time, his size and energy grew. After climbing on the sofas, pulling drawers out, biting the towels, they couldn’t keep him inside without supervision. Daniel spent many hours outside. Mariel always left early and came back late. His daily walks started to become shorter as Carlos spent more time locked inside his office. Gurgi got used to being almost all day in the garden, alone. Even though water and food were never absent, his weakly baths started to happen once a month in the lake. His hair grew so much that he looked more of a mop than a dog.

That morning, with the Sun being lightly covered by wandering clouds, he remembered the small hole in the fence. After a few minutes of digging, Gurgi managed to get through. Even though he barely got out anymore, he knew well enough those streets. Some of the neighbors who were walking their own dogs got close to pat him, but none of them tried to take him home.

A few hours later, Gurgi decided to go back, hoping to find his family ready so they all could eat. The reality, however, was another: they scolded him for breaking the fence and destroying the garden —months went by without them giving it maintenance, but it was until that moment that they realized its state. Carlos and Mariel fought while Daniel watched through the kitchen window.

Something changed because of that event. The next morning, strange men came and took many things from the house. No one paid attention to his attempt of getting rid of them by barking. That sound stopped when Daniel put on Gurgi’s leash and led him into the car. The dog saw his home disappear little by little.

Now, instead of a big house, they lived in a small apartment barley fit for the four of them. From spending his nights out on the cold garden or inside a hot room, he didn’t know which was better. The countryside became only a memory, something he dreamt about.

Daniel’s parents only fought more as time went on. Gurgi and the tall child got used to that, never getting involved, especially if things became too rough. However, this time was different. Loud crashes made him walk to the kitchen. At first, they only raised their voices, but now they were screaming. It was impossible to understand what one wanted to say when both interrupted the other without finishing a sentence. Among all that, Mariel shouted “I’m leaving!” She walked to her room. Carlos, shocked, sat down.

Gurgi decided to follow Mariel, who was throwing her things into a large bag. In her frustration, she missed on one of those lunches and a jacket fell to the floor. Before she could pick it up, he already had it in his mouth, offering it to her. That little act of kindness broke her. She sat down beside him, hugged him, and let the waterfalls flow.

There they stayed for a while. Eventually, Mariel got up, took her things, and walked to the door. Just like his past home, she was gone.

That absence forced Carlos and Daniel to talk more. The more they talked, the farther away they became. If they weren’t arguing about whose time was to take care of Gurgi, one of them spent most of his day locked inside his room, and the other was barely at home.

One night, when Gurgi was lying beside the couch, remembering the lake, he heard a distant thud from Carlos’ room. For a moment he thought about checking up on him, but then he remembered the last time he entered without permission. He went back to the lake.

Moments later, the door opened, and something rolled from there until it reached his nose. His tail started to wiggle frenetically. His eyes almost popped out. There it was —a striped ball. Gurgi got up and saw Carlos smiling. Even in his old age, the idea of playing with his friend made him feel like that young puppy once more.

When the father-son relationship became even more fractured by Daniel leaving, the father-dog one grew. Even if Carlos was in his room, sitting in front of a shinny screen, Gurgi was with him. Spending time “alone” helped them both —Carlos cut Gurgi’s hair, leaving behind his mop phase, and the dog listened carefully when the human talked to him about his problems.

Carlos talked a lot about Mariel. He talked so much about her that, one day, after Carlos left for some time, he came back with her. Tears, howls, and licks. Gurgi didn’t waste the opportunity —he was waiting by the door, his leash in his mouth. Even in his old age, walking being something increasingly hard, he never stopped giving everything he had if it meant spending time with his family and watching them happy.

Carlos and Mariel reconciled, but there was something else missing. While looking through Daniel’s old room, Gurgi caught an old smell. He sniffed and sniffed until he found what he was looking for.

The couple was in the living room, talking about what had happened all those years ago and in the time in between, when they were stopped by Gurgi, who dropped in front of them the old jacket Daniel used as a blanket when they found him.

Not a day went by without the topic of reaching out to their son wasn’t present. They were surprised when, one morning, Mariel received a call from Daniel looking for the same. The small child, now a big man, sat down with his family once more. Both he and Gurgi spent hours crying, hugging.

For the special occasion, they ate pasta; all but the old dog who barely ate anything at all. He barely played. He barely walked. But he was there, happy by watching the ones who saved him happy.

On the anniversary of that event, the last trip to the countryside happened. Not a sound besides the ones of the car were made. When they arrived, the old mop tried to go out, but his legs weren’t working. Daniel carried him to the shore of the lake.

There they were, at dusk. Peace. Quiet. Sadness. Gurgi breathed heavily. The light around him started to go out. He knew his job was done. The last thing he heard was the breaking voice of his friend. “Thank you for staying. Thank you for helping us. Thank you to infinity. You can rest.”