In a vicinity near an abandoned railway, a group of unfortunate puppies resided, among them, a special one. This particular puppy, following the untimely demise of its mother, an elderly dog struck by a passing train on that very railway, steadfastly remained by her side.
Day after day, the devoted puppy returned to the railway, yearning for its mother’s return, unaware that she had passed away long ago. Each time it discovered a dry leaf, it would perch on it, tenderly licking its tears, as if beckoning its mother back.
This poignant routine persisted for several days until a young woman passing by the railway bore witness to this heart-rending spectacle. She was moved by a profound sense of empathy and decided to extend her help to the group of puppies.
Carrying a basket brimming with cookies and refreshments, she approached the puppies, including the special one. The unique puppy eagerly leaped onto the basket and indulged in the treats, yet it still returned to the railway, alighting upon the dry leaf, as if persistently in search of its mother.
The girl couldn’t hold back her tears as she watched this heartrending scene unfold. Overwhelmed with sympathy, she resolved to take the special puppy home, where she would provide it with the care and nurturing it deserved.
From that moment on, the special puppy found itself in a new home, with a new family, and we remain optimistic that it will discover joy and contentment in its fresh start. This story serves as a poignant reminder that love and compassion have the power to help us surmount the challenges and adversities in our lives.
The pet I’ll never forget: Ella the puppy threw up on me, snubbed me and after 10 years decided to love me
Mum, Dad, my brother Michael: everyone in the family got more affection from our ridgeback-staffie cross. And guess whose bed she used to poo on…
I think the tone was set when Ella threw up over me on the way back from the Dogs Trust. She was three months old, rolling around on the back seat between me and my twin brother, Michael (we’d just turned seven), and wasn’t enjoying her first trip in a car. She could have been sick anywhere – over the seat, over the floor – but for some reason she decided to climb on to me first.
It was the start of a beautiful but strangely one-sided friendship. Ella, a ridgeback-staffie cross, was the perfect dog: playful, energetic, naughty and tolerant. She would let us poke and prod her without complaint, turn her ears inside-out or dress her up in T-shirts or the thick woollen poncho my Greek Cypriot grandma knitted her for the British winter. And she was endlessly loving, at least to the other members of the family. Me? Too often it was as if I didn’t exist. If Michael and I were sitting on the sofa, she’d bound up to him. If I came home after a day out with my dad, he was the one she’d jump at. If I tried to take her for a walk by myself, she’d drag her feet and insist that I fetch my brother.
To add insult to injury, about once a year she would do a poo in the house. Not just anywhere, though: she’d climb the stairs to my room and leave it in a neat pile on top of my bed.
I can’t pretend I wasn’t offended by Ella’s attitude – I loved her just as much as anyone. But it took me a while to realise that in her eyes we were both bitches fighting for our place in the pack. I read that dogs are 98.8% wolf, even yappy little chihuahuas. Ella was a definite she-wolf and my mother (she who opened the tin of dog food every night) was the undisputed alpha female. Ella could handle that fact, but she didn’t want to be the omega female. That was me.
Working out the reasons for Ella’s lack of sisterhood, understanding that her indifference was atavistic and not just casual, didn’t make me any less jealous of my brother, who always took great pleasure in the fact that Ella seemed to prefer him. But I resigned myself to the situation. And then one day (happy ending, anyone?) everything changed. I must have been 16 or 17, we’d been away for a fortnight in France, and when we got back it was me she ran up to first, whining and twisting with pleasure at seeing me again. After that it was like all those years of competition had never happened. We were best friends for ever, or at least for the couple of years she had left. Ella finally loved me.
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