In a public bus long ago, a police officer in uniform sat quietly, his faithful service doga keen-eyed huskyresting beside him on the front seat. To the passengers, it was a familiar sight; the dog never caused a stir, merely gazing out the window at the passing countryside, as if enjoying the peaceful journey.
But halfway through the route, everything changed.
The huskys ears pricked up sharply. Its gaze grew tense, as though catching some faint but alarming signal. At first, the dog whimpered softly, then suddenly leapt from its seat and dashed toward the driver.
Pawing at the dashboard, the husky pressed its nose against the windscreen and began barkinga deep, piercing sound, edged with a growl, as if demanding immediate action. It scraped at the controls, then stared intently at the road ahead before turning back to the driver, as if trying to speak.
The driver, a man in his mid-forties, tried at first to ignore it. The bus was fullhe couldnt risk the lives of his passengers. He gripped the wheel tightly, unwilling to be distracted by the dogs odd behaviour. Yet the husky only grew more insistent, barking louder, bracing itself against the steering column, its eyes locked on the road as if willing the driver to see.
And thenhe did.
“Good Lord!” he shouted, slamming on the brakes.
The bus screeched to a halt, jolting the passengers. Cries of surprise filled the air, but the driver didnt turn. His focus was fixed ahead, where a dreadful scene unfoldeda terrible crash. Cars lay mangled, some overturned, others crushed beyond recognition.
Injured figures staggered by the roadside, some groaning in pain, others struggling to rise. Smoke curled into the sky, the acrid stench of petrol and burnt rubber thick in the air.
The driver realiseda few seconds more, and their bus would have been part of that horror. Countless livespassengers, children, the elderlycould have been lost.
But the dog had sensed it first. Had it not been for its sharp ears, its instincts, its desperate warnings, the bus might have ploughed straight into the wreckage.
As the passengers grasped the disaster theyd narrowly escaped, their eyes turned to the husky, still alert by the windscreen, watching the road.
The policeman stroked the dogs neck and murmured, “Good lad. You saved us all.”
