**Diary Entry**
This morning on the bus ride into Manchester, something extraordinary happened. A police officer in uniform sat near the front, his loyal police doga clever Alsatianbeside him. The passengers were used to seeing them; the dog was always calm, gazing out the window as the countryside blurred past, seeming to enjoy the journey as much as the rest of us.
Then, halfway through the route, everything changed.
The Alsatians ears shot up. His body stiffened, as if hed caught some faint but urgent warning. At first, he let out a low whine. Then, suddenly, he leapt from his seat and bolted toward the driver.
Paws planted on the dashboard, nose pressed to the windscreen, he began barkingsharp, insistent, almost growling. He scraped at the controls, then stared ahead, then turned back to the driver, as if trying to speak.
The driver, a man in his mid-forties, tried to ignore it at first. The bus was packed; he couldnt risk lives over a dogs odd behaviour. He gripped the wheel tighter, refusing to be distracted. But the barking grew more frantic, the dog shoving against the dashboard, snarling, practically dragging the drivers attention to the road ahead.
And then the driver saw it.
Bloody hell! he shouted, slamming the brakes.
The bus screeched to a halt. Passengers lurched forward, gasping in shock, but the driver didnt turn around. His eyes were fixed aheadwhere a horrific scene unfolded.
A massive pile-up. Cars crumpled into each other, some overturned, others smashed beyond recognition. Injured people lay scattered across the road and pavementsome groaning, others struggling to move. The acrid stench of petrol and burnt rubber filled the air.
It hit him then: a few more seconds, and our bus wouldve ploughed straight into that wreckage. Dozens of livesparents, children, elderly passengerscouldve been lost.
And it was the dog who sensed it first. Without those sharp ears, that instinct, that desperate barking, wed have been part of the disaster.
Silence settled over the bus as everyone realised how close wed come. All eyes turned to the Alsatian, still alert by the windscreen, watching the road like a sentinel.
The officer reached over, ruffling the dogs neck. Good lad, he murmured. You saved us all.
