Left to Die

The day had come to an end and nighttime was arriving. As the last ray of the sun disappears, the streets became quiet. There were many clouds this night, and the moon hung low, barely shining. There were no stars for the clouds were too thick and the streets were too bright. Once in a while a car would speed past, but other than that, the street was peaceful.
After waiting for a long time, a young dog, who had been studying his surroundings for a long time, emerged from behind a pile of rubbish. He trotted down one of the streets, then nosed the next rubbish dump he saw. Nothing, not even a scrap. There were scents of other tramps. They had been here, taking food from his territory. As the days grew warmer and more humid, food went stale easily and became scare. He growled, but could not do anything about it. They were gone now, and he didn’t have the time to track them down. Even if he did, he would not be able to chase them off. He was too weak.
A few months ago, he had been bought by his owner, who took good care of him. He was one pampered puppy for a while, but as time passes, his owner grew tired of taking care of him, and he was neglected. Now, left on the streets to left to fight for his own survival. He wondered what his name was. He knew he had been wondering about that for a long time. Every day since his owner abandoned him he would wonder. Who am I? He kept asking himself, but the answer never came.
Tired and hungry, Dog traveled through the neighborhood, poking each and every rubbish dump with his snout. He found this piece of meat in one of the dumps, but it smelt so bad even the ravens and crows left it there. There were a few morsels of food left in a can, and he stuck his paw into the can, trying to wrench the food out. In the process, he cut his paw against the sharp edge of the can. Yowling in pain, he pulled his paw out and the can went flying across the floor.
When he finished patrolling his territory, he limped into an unknown territory, and found this house which smelt of wonderful things. Steak, lamb, chicken, everything and anything he could ever imagined. Alas, he came late and the garbage was gone. With his paw stinging and stomach growling, he made himself as comfortable as he could in a box near the house and waited for morning to come.
When morning came, the house remained quiet But Dog knew better than to give up now. He continued to wait. Afternoon soon followed and the heat became near unbearable People began entering the house, and the aroma was stronger than ever. There were so many different smells it made his stomach growl louder than ever and he head spun. By now many other dogs have gathered.
When the first rubbish was thrown there was chaos. Hungry dogs dashed forward, snatching whatever they could. Small, weak and injured, Dog had no chance to get past those hungry and wild brutes to get the food. Then a truck stopped just outside the house. A human came out and opened the back of the truck. It was full of frozen meat. Frozen meat was hard, Dog knew, but if you left it in the sun it would become tender and delicious. Non of the other dogs attempted to snatch the meat from the humans. No one dared for it was a serious crime. Dog, too, knew that, but his stomach growled so loud he could not hear himself think.
He waited for his chance, then dashed forward. That was when time seemed to slow down. Dog ran fast, faster than he ever did, and ever would, in his life. The human holding the meat widened his eyes and tried to dodge the attack from Dog. The human dropped the meat he was holding and rolled aside. Dog must have looked ferocious when he ripped the packaging of the meat apart and took one for himself. He heard the humans yelling at him as he took off with the meat. He ran again, he ran towards the road and meant to dash across when he saw a car coming. He glanced behind him and saw the furious faces of the humans he had stolen from. Heart pumping fast, Dog dashed across the road.

He felt something hit him. For a moment he felt pain shooting through his body.

He felt totally at peace. His hunger was gone now, he felt nothing from his paw. He could think straight. He asked himself. He recalled the various delicious things he was fed, he recollected the times when his stomach was never empty, his mouth never dry, his coat was always groomed, he remembered the time when he was loved. Although they were all gone now, he knew he would never forget them. Then it came to him, like magic, his name.
He let go of the meat he had been holding in his jaws.

A young lady laid on her bed, wondering what her dog was doing now. She saw his longing eyes that day, the eyes which told her that her dog did not want to remain trapped in the house. So she let him out. She thought he would come back. She thought dogs knew how to go home by themselves. But her dog never returned. He must have hated this place, she thought, and wondered what she did wrong. Then she heard a car screech.