• There once existed a dog. He was by no stretch of imagination the best looking. He was a mutt. No pedigree, no signs of a great upbringing. In fact, he was a stray... Born and raised on the streets, his parents and siblings never cared too much for him, far too occupied with their own needs and endeavors. And so, it was early on that he parted ways with them... Seeking his means to survive.

    As time had past and he had gotten used to taking care of himself, he began to notice the dangers of the outside world... More and more, he took note of other, better-looking dogs that spent all of their days cared for and sheltered. Oh, how much he had grown to want to be like them... He wanted a warm place to curl up, people to give him attention and care for the needs that he couldn't achieve all on his own...

    Time slept by, and the mutt had advanced a few years, when it happened... A car slammed into his side as he scavenged the road for food, knocking him several feet away. The woman who drove the car stopped in shock and picked the poor mutt up. In an act of kindness, she took him to the vet, and she desperately waited for his full recovery.

    This act endeared him to her. To think that a human would care so much for him as to take care of him, an unattractive stranger, in such a manner... From the point of his recovery, the woman kept him home with her. She seemed to look past the ugliness of the mutt and care for it like a child... And together, they spent a few years.

    Over that time, the woman had introduced the dog to a number of male human friends... These came and went, but for her sake, he held no qualms about a single one. After all, he felt he owed her much for what she provided him. He felt cared for and loved, which was all that mattered at the time.

    Then, a day came that he noticed something different... She had started to wear a ring on her hand that he didn't recognize before. In addition to this, she spent less and less time home. After awhile, she had stopped paying much attention to him... Rather, she pent much of her time messing with some great, white, frilly thing, using strings and needles and scissors...

    It wasn't too long after that she stood hand in hand with her new man and began to clear out the house for their joining. At last, they came to the dog... The man shook his head and sneezed, reaching for a handkerchief in his pocket as he said something to the mutt's owner he couldn't understand. They seemed to argue for a brief while, with intermittent sneezings and blowing of noses from the groom.

    She sighed and gave into his demands and took the dog outside. Tying his leash to a tree, and placing a sign up reading 'Free Dog', she petted the mutt's head for the last time in a reassuring manner. To him, this translated, 'I'll be back soon'. And so they drove off together, the large moving truck behind them, as he patiently sat in wait, intending to guard the household until she returned.

    ...But she never did...

    In the meantime, he continued to sit at attention at the base of the tree. To him, his owner was just taking a vacation... She would be back... So, he guarded the house for her, feeling fully assured that she would return and give him much appreciation for a job well done.

    Nobody ever came to take the 'Free Dog'. Many were turned away by its appearance... An ugly dog was never the type to keep... No, sir. And those few people that did approach to take the dog quickly turned away, deterred by his barking and ferocious behavior as he fearlessly guarded his owner's abode. Even as he was becoming emaciated, nobody approached as his sense of ceaseless guardianship continued, for fear he was diseased.

    His final day came... All of his energy was leaving him as he closed his eyes for the final time... His mind still on his owner as he slowly passed.