The big cars were rushing by so fast. They were so loud, and I was so scared. I walked down the alley to hide behind the big green metal dumpster with all the rancid smelling trash inside of it. I tucked my tail and tried to stay warm as I hid from the cars and those villainous humans walking past. As it got darker, I started to doze off. I tried to stay as awake and on guard as I could, but I was just so exhausted. I had been running around all day trying to find a safe place after I had finally escaped the dreadful place I was in, even though I left so many of my friends behind.
I was woken up by the bright morning sun reflecting off of a indow from a building nearby. Thankfully I woke up because some people in big jumpsuits came by with a tremendous truck that started moving the dumpster I was hiding behind. As they approached me, I ran as fast as I could out of the alleyway and darted out onto the sidewalk. So many people were looking at me, I didn’t know what to do. That’s when I saw an old friend. I knew him when I was just a small puppy. We were both in that dreadful place where the humans treated us so terribly.
It wasn’t much longer than a few months after I met him that he escaped, like I had just recently. I hadn’t seen him for months nd I almost didn’t recognize him attached to that rope thing that a human was holding onto. I don’t know why he would trust a human after what they did to us. I ran after him as he passed me and tried asking him for help, “Hey! Where are you going? Come back! ” He turned back an looked at me, “Hey! How did you- When did you get out? ” “I escaped yesterday! I don’t know what to do, it’s terrifying out here.
How did you make it? Why are you with a human? The human was tugging on his rope, “I gotta go, just go down the street that way,” he motioned his head back from where he came from, “then you’ll find a big blue building. They’ll take care f you there, trust me. Soon you’ll find that not all humans are deceitful. ” “Wait don’t go! I need your help! ” “It’s okay bud, you’re one of the strong ones, I believe in you. Oh, and they call me Max now. ” I watched him walk excitedly down the street as he looked up at the human talking to Max. I then turned around and started walking in the direction he told me.
I tried to walk as close to the brick buildings as I could, away from the people. But when I approached a corner I saw all the cars rushing by. How am I supposed to get to the other side? More people seemed to stand on the corner while I tried to figure out what to do. Suddenly, all the cars came to a halt and the people started walking! What kind of magic was that? Before the cars started to move again, I ran across the street and continued on with my journey to the big blue building. I suddenly realized how long I had been walking when my stomach roared in hunger and my legs ached with fatigue.
That’s when I saw it–the big blue building. As I approached it, I heard many barks. Some said “Hello! ” and some said “Adopt me! ” However, I didn’t hear anything negative, which was weird because the last place I was that kept a whole bunch of dogs inside was the dreadful place where we all wanted to escape. I walked up some stairs and looked in through the glass door. I saw a few people standing behind a desk. Standing in front of the desk were more people, some big and some significantly smaller, younger perhaps. As I was looking in, I heard a voice behind me–a human. “Come here little guy,” he said.
I turned around surprised and stood there for a second, thinking of what I should do. More people surrounded me and one of them had a stick with a loop on the end. That person started walking toward me and tried putting the loop around my neck. I tried to dodge them but they were too quick, I was captured. I thought Max said I could trust this place! I tried resisting them but the thing around my neck hurt when I pulled back, so I decided that it was in my best interest physically to comply and walk with them. We made our way toward the back of the big blue building and into a backdoor.
We were greeted by a younger lady who looked fairly friendly, she took the loop from the guy that was holding me and guided me to a room that had an abundance of water and white foamy stuff. She brought me into a corner and removed the loop. At that point I thought that I should try to run, I didn’t have anything around my neck holding me here any longer. That’s when I remembered Max, he said that I would learn to trust humans. Maybe this is the human that I need to trust. Istarted to lay down in the corner when the lady came back with a long hose. I stood back up and approached her.
I started sniffing the hose when water started pouring out! I ran back into the corner trying to stay warm and dry. She told me to come back, but eventually she gave up and came into the corner with me and started pouring the water all over me. At first it was really cold and I didn’t like it, but then it felt refreshing. I hadn’t had any water for a long time. I started licking the ground trying to quench my thirst when she shut the water off and started rubbing some stuff on me. All of a sudden, the stuff she was rubbing on me started getting all white and bubbly, and it smelled like the flowers outside!
I had never encountered this stuff before, but I like it. Maybe I can trust these humans, well this one at least. While the lady was rubbing stuff into my fur she started talking to me, “Hey little one, I’m Alexandra and I’m gonna make sure that you are all clean and healthy so we can find you a nice home. ” Alexandra sounded kind, and she was very gentle, I think that l’ll e able to trust her from now on. When she was done with the foamy stuff, she grabbed the hose and started pouring the water on me again. All the foamy stuff went down into the floor and all that was left was me, drenched, clean, and cold.
Alexandra put the loop around my neck again and brought me to a different corner of the room. This corner had no water hoses or holes in the ground that I could see. But once she took off the loop, she brought out a bigger tube and as she brought it closer to me, a whole bunch of warm air came out of it! I was no longer cold and the air felt so comforting. She started scratching y ears and my back as she blew the air on those areas. Before I knew it the air stopped and I was all dry. I felt so clean, cleaner than I’d ever felt in my life.
I’d never been treated like this before, Max was right to send me here. Alexandra put a different loop on my neck this time, this one could change sizes and it had a small shiny loop that she hooked one of those ropes onto, like the one Max was attached to. She brought me down a narrow hallway, like the alleyway outside. We went into a room with a few other people in it. Once we were inside, the people started crowding around me and instinctively I crouched own and tucked my tail. I didn’t know if I could trust these people, were they as nice as Alexandra?
Alexandra crouched down me and told the people to give me some space. She held my face and scratched my ears. She said, “It’s okay little one, they’re all nice people, you have nothing to fear. ” I gave her a little kiss on the nose to thank her for her reassurance. Slowly people started coming closer to me. One at a time I looked at the strangers. When they touched me, all they did was scratch my ears, which I loved. I could get used to this place. When everyone was done scratching me, they gathered in a circle and tarted talking about something. I think they were talking about me! Looks like he’s a golden retriever, a year old, maybe a year and a half? Looks like he hasn’t fully grown into his paws yet,” one of the men said.
“That sounds about right. He’ll definitely find a great home pretty soon,” another lady said. “Alex, can you take him to one of the kennels with some food and water? I’ll upload his profile to the adoption page,” the man said. ““Sure thing, l’ll get a bed for him too,” said Alexandra, or Alex as the man said. Why did that other lady say I would find a home? Am I not staying here? This place has treated me tremendously so far, I don’t want to leave!
Alex brought me down a different hallway, this hallway was full of stalls with wired doors on them, and all I could hear were different barks. As we walked further down the hallway, I looked into these stalls to find dogs! These dogs seemed much happier than the place I was at before, even if they were in the stalls. Alex brought me into one of the stalls and put a soft, flat, puffy thing on the floor; this must have been the bed she was talking about. Then she set down two bowls, one with food and one with water. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until now.
I don’t think I had eaten anything since a few days before I escaped. After she set the bowls down, she closed the door and said “I’lI be back to see you soon. Enjoy your new home, eat well and get some rest. ” So that’s what I did. I drank some water and ate all the scrumptious food that was in the bowl. When I finished, I walked over to the soft, cushioned bed, walked around it a few times to find a comfortable position and laid down. As I laid there, relaxed, I heard all the dogs barking. A lot of what I heard were pleas for adoption, whatever that is. But that was the last thing I heard before I fell asleep.