Wandering the crowded streets, the old dog seemed to have no strength left to fight against life. One eye was no longer intact, his teeth had all fallen out so he couldn’t even chew a proper meal, and his left ear was swollen and oozing with infection, making his face look even more painful. His matted, filthy coat, tangled with age, made him appear frail and utterly pitiful.
Yet the most heartbreaking part wasn’t his illness or old age, but the indifference of people around him. On his journey searching for a bit of warmth, the poor dog received only wary glances and whispered warnings: “Don’t go near, he might be sick.” No helping hands reached out, no compassionate eyes showed pity — only fear and avoidance surrounded him.
In the rush of the crowd, he grew smaller and more lonely than ever. And yet, in the one eye he had left, there still shimmered a faint glimmer of hope — hope that someday, someone would notice his suffering, be brave enough to take him home, heal his wounds, and give him the love he had been waiting for all his life.