“Michael, it’s about time. I’d suggest you see a doctor. Have your heart checked.”
“And what’s wrong with my heart?”
“I’ve got a feeling you haven’t got one at all!”
Charlie couldnt understand why the door to his block, after so many walks through it, was now locked.
He sat across from the battered brown door.
“Maybe I’ve made a mistake?” he considered. “No!” he replied confidently to himself. The scents told himthis was the right place.
“I just need to wait a little longer, and my owner will remember why he took me by car into the woods and left me there. It’s just a game! But I found my way. Now Im waiting!”
Snow began falling. Charlie’s paws grew colder and colder. His body shivered in betrayal, his fur offered no mercy.
“I mustnt think about being hungry. Soon theyll see me, be so happy, and give me a big, tasty bone…
The trembling little dog went over to a snowdrift and started eating snow. It melted in his mouth, and his thirst faded, but the cold grew sharperif such a thing was possible.
“Soon theyll let me in, and Ill curl up beside the giant white radiator. Bone first. Then soup. Then Ill growl at all of them, for show. I understand, of course, this is just a test. Theyre training me!”
“I searched for our courtyard for nights. Yesterday I crept into an open entrance, just to get warm. In the morning I was woken by the caretakers boot in my side. I whimpered. I didnt even have the strength to bite.”
“People are strange. Walking on a lead with my owner, nearly everyone on the street smiles at me, greets him. Alone, they all look at me with hatredone even kicked me. My side still aches.”
Hours passed as Charlie stared at the entrance. No one came or left. Charlie whimpered softly, dreaming of warmth and food.
“I just need to wait a little longer. Just a bit.”
A blizzard kicked up. Charlie could hardly feel his paws. He curled himself into a ball. Slowly, his mind drifted somewhere far away. He had done his job. It was hard, but he found his building. He was clever. Now hed have a little snooze…
Victor Michaelson sat alone in his flat. His schedule was busy: watch the telly, have a cup of tea, watch the telly again, more tea, then a napfollowed, naturally, by more tea.
Thats all he had to do today. Truth be told, the routine hadn’t much changed in years. Once upon a timeit was different!
Hed been a train driver, taking people all the way from the outskirts into the heart of London. A part of the citys great pulse. And most importantlyhe was needed.
“Never mind,” he comforted himself, “springs nearly here. Ill plant out the tomatoes, get the allotment going. Wont be long now, just have to get through this winter.”
He strode to the kitchen, put on the kettle. He used to be able to grumble to someone, or at least chat, while the kettle boiled. Now, he felt tricked, hurried along, abandoned.
The kettle snapped off. Victor reached for the cupboard, expecting to find tea leaves. The box was there, but it was empty.
“Blast it! Out of tea. Ill have to pop to the shop,” he thought cheerfully. He dressed quickly and stepped out of his flat.
“The hallway lights outeither blown or nicked again,” he muttered, making a mental note to fix it later.
Opening the door to the street, hed only gone a few steps when he tripped and nearly fell.
“Oh, for heavens sake!” he grumbled. It was a dog, half-buried in snow. The snow on him didnt melt.
“Charlie!” Victor recognised the neighbours dog instantly.
“Charlie, are you alright? Hold on, Ill ring your people on the entry phone.” He hurried to the panel and dialed Charlies flat. No answer. He tried another neighbourfinally someone picked up.
“Hello, its your neighbour. Do you know where the people from sixty-four are? Their dog out heres near frozen!”
“They’ve moved out. Divorce, I think. Flats up for sale.”
“Unbelievable. Cheers.”
Victor took off his coat, laid it next to the dog. Gently, he brushed off the snow, and set Charlie onto the coat. It seemed the poor animal wasnt breathing.
“Oh, come on, not like this! Charlie, breathe!”
He dragged him inside, placed him near the radiator. He kept stroking the dogs frozen fur, then knocked on the nearest door on the ground floor. Nina, the neighbour, answered.
“Victor, whats happened?”
“Nina, its the dog please, look up the nearest vet and call us a cab, will you?”
“Hello, Helen?”
“Whos this?”
“Victor Michaelson, your neighbour from seventy-two. Nina gave me your number.”
“Oh, hello, Mr. Michaelson.”
“Its about Charlie.”
“You want Michael. I never wanted that daft dog.”
“Hmm Well, were off to the vet”
“Mr. Michaelson, that waster couldnt even manage a mortgage then, would you believe it, came home with a dog!”
“I kept us going for years. Told him to get rid of the mutt Couldnt manage even that! Good day to you!”
“Michael? Its Victor Michaelson. The neighbour. Charlie came home!”
“You must be mistaken. Our Charlie got lost in the woods.”
“Im certain its him!”
“Thats not possible.”
“Well… you shouldnt treat them like that.”
“I dont understand.”
“You do. Im glad I havent such neighbours any more.”
Months passed. Charlie settled into his new home. Hed lost the tips of his ears and two paws still hurt to walk on, but he managed.
Charlie realised that what happened was no game. It was a cruel game between two grown-ups where the command given to him was “stay lost”for real, this time.
But he also understood he had a new person now. They went for three walks a day. The gentleman wasn’t young, and Charlie trained him to avoid being glued to the telly, getting him running every walk.
“Humans are funny. Those others used to smile, but nearly ended my life. This one always moans, grumbles about everythingbut hes kind and cares for me. Im no fool: those ones deserved to be bitten, this one gets my love!”
One day, Victor heard a knock.
“Victor, its Michael. Im with a new partner now, shes got a girl, and the little one wants a dog. Let me have Charlie back. Sorry about before. How much do I owe you for the vet?”
“I dont understand you, Michael.”
“Things just happened I didnt earn enough and”
“It doesnt matter to a dog how much you earn Charlie was lost in the woods.”
“But there he is, on your blanket.”
“Thats Norris. You lost Charlie.”
“Charlie, come here!”
The dog lay on his blanket, unmoved. He only showed his teeth.
“Michael, its about time you saw a doctor. Have your heart checked.”
“And whats wrong with my heart?”
“Im not sure youve got one!”
Sometimes, in life, the way we treat those who rely on us reveals the truth of who we are. Hearts are not measured by words or wealth, but by our kindness and loyalty.
