RESCUED. A SHORT STORY YOU’LL LOVE
I stood and watched as my dog was running around merrily with another puppy. Both are mini schnauzers. If you know about breeds, you know they can be playful.
As if taking part in a race, they caught up with each other, then both dogs jumped behind a birch, which visually served as a finishing line.
But for some reason, only my pet emerged out of that “freeze frame” behind the wide birch. Replaying events from a second ago, I thought it strange; two dogs flew in a jump, but only one reappeared from the birch. Surreal. As if someone had cut the second puppy out of the film.
Where was the puppy? I came closer and looked behind the tree. Then everything became clear. There was an open manhole.
My heart sank as I approached and looked in. By some miracle, the puppy had avoided falling into the dark waste water and lodged its paws on the safe rock in the middle of the dangerous flows. By the dog’s astonished eyes, one could deduce it did not understand what had happened.
I called over to the dog’s owner, a middle-aged woman who was still naively calling her doggie in a cheerful voice.
Seeing where the puppy had fallen, she immediately became hysterical and rushed to a nearby apartment building. She returned with a huge ladder. The problem was that the ladder was too big to go through the manhole.
Seeing her fuss, people began to gather and ask what had happened. A big man approached. Man-talk is often more to the point. I asked him, “Did you come by car?” He answered, “Yes.” Then I asked if he had a rope with him, by chance.
He brought the tow rope. I already had a plan, but it involved choosing someone who would allow my plan work. I critically assessed the dimensions of the hole, then myself, the lady, and the man with the rope.
Unfortunately, w were all too wide in girth.
A kid of about ten or eleven years-old, with matted, short hair and slightly worn clothes, stood close by.
I asked him if he would like to help. He said, “Yes.”
That was the answer I needed. I told him my plan; “We will lower you on the robe, then you grab the dog, and we lift you both out.”
At first, the child agreed. Then, when we had already tied him with a rope, the boy looked into the gaping hole and became frightened.
I explained to him that we will be quick, and that everything will be fine. After his agreement, we carefully descended the boy behind the dog.
Within a few moments, bot the savior and the one saved emerged back into daylight. They were both shaking with fear.
The lady was close to crying. She rushed to her puppy, taking it in her hands.
To cheer the kind up, I said, “Well done! You are a hero. Good job, boy!” I said, patting him on the back.
To that, he humbly replied, “I am a girl.”
All I could think of was, “Oh, my God! I put a little girl in danger!”
The girl was covered in dirt from her trip down the manhole. So I asked the lady who owned the cog to take care of her. Luckily, the plan was a success, but I decided to disappear from the scene as soon as possible, before anyone questioned my good intentions.
The best stories are those that have happy endings. Now whenever I am out walking my dog and we meet up with that same puppy, we call him “rescued one,” and I’m grateful for that brave, little girl.
But next time, I will be more careful with my “save the world” plans.
Thank you for reading! Happy 2023 holidays and pawlidays!
This story was published in 2021 Short Story Anthology by Academy Art Press, Carliforna
