Chapter 1: Lost

‘Grrrrrrrr. . .grrrrr. . .bow. . .bow. . .bow. . .grrrrrr . . .’

Ohhhh, where has that big monster gone? It must have been some sort of ferocious tiger, with those long whiskers and that weird sound. . . ‘Meow, meow.’

But there is nobody here. Must have been a dream!

Now I remember! I was walking with my mother and two brothers, when all of a sudden, I smelled a delicious scent and I could not stop myself from following it. I closed my eyes and abandoned myself to a mixture of fantastic fragrances.

‘Hey lazy bro, we are going towards the butcher’s shop,’ shouted my brother, who was trotting behind my mother while biting my other brother’s tail, swinging just ahead of his nose.

‘Coming, coming in a minute. . . ,’ I had said, having already perceived some traces of that smell, or better of that blend of smells. Initially I thought it could come from the leftovers of food that my mother used to find at times in nearby villages. When we puppies were very small, she used to go and fetch for us some plastic bags that some families kept at night outside their doors. Inside we would find all sorts of delicacies: mainly vegetables, rice—mixed with yogurt or curry; at times, even some bones! We brothers would fight for those but then our mother would intervene and give to each of us our share of bones; we would chew and suck these till the last grain of meat and juice was over. Since a couple of weeks, she had started taking us with her scouting for food. Like it was the case yesterday, we would head to the backyard of the market. Here, by the end of the day we would find a lot of food left in the open in some large containers. These were the remains discarded by the sellers after shutting their food stalls.

However, the smell I had started perceiving was much yummier than those we were used to, and I could not stop myself from following it with my eyes closed. I kept on walking and fantasizing about what delicacies I may find once I would reach the source of that appetizing stream of aromas!

Walking and smelling, imagining to chew some tender morsel, a curried vegetable, or something sweet; the smell contained all those scents and I just could not leave it. I had to discover where it originated! Among us brothers, I am the one who loves eating the most. They prefer running and playing; they eat only when they are hungry and cannot afford ignoring it anymore. Not me! I savour each bite of our meals. I try mixing the flavours by munching a bit here and there; leaving something sweet for later; sniffing around to find the tastiest bite. I am the last one to finish eating, well after my brothers have already gone back to running and chasing each other.

So, after some minutes of following my nose and visualizing the most delicious foods, I had realized that my family was no more there.

But I had come closer to the source of my imaginary delicacies, that seemed to spring from a place with very high walls. I thought it could be a huge restaurant for dogs. I had started circling around the walls to try and find a way to go inside. I was a bit scared since I did not know where my family was, but at the same time I was thinking that my mom would be proud of me, when I would bring her and my brothers here to find such amazing food.

The walls I was following were not only high, but they seemed endless: I walked for a long time around them, to finally reach a massive, closed gate. I had hoped to find an opening from where I could have entered, or maybe one of those iron gates where I could have sneaked in through the bars. Instead there were two solid wooden doors, looking quite impenetrable to me, although they did not prevent the aromas to come out and delight my senses. The gate was close to a road where noisy cars kept on moving, thus diluting with their smelly pipes the scents of my desired food.

It was already dark, and I was hungry and also scared. I had tried to go back to the place where I had last seen my brothers, but I was not able to find my way. I went back to the wall then and followed this again until I reached the gate. Between the gate and the road there were some bushes and a small patch of grass. I thought I could stay there, hoping that the doors would soon be opened to let me in and find the juicy food.

I went and sat on the grass behind the bushes, looking at the gate.

I was almost about to sleep, when I realized that the gate had been opened and a car had got into the place. I rushed to get in, but a big car came out roaring. I got scared and ran back to my hiding place with my tail between the legs. I kept on watching the doors, but I was very tired. The sound of the passing cars became consistently regular and, finally hungry and tired, I closed my eyes, rested my head on my paws and dozed off .