The Lost Dog

Tommy had been brought up in a big house since his birth. When he was small, his world was confined to the house and the courtyard. As he became a bit older, owners started taking him out. He always used to look forward to such visits. As soon as some member of the house started to go out, Tommy would bring his leash, pleading silently to be taken outside. But most of the times he was disappointed. Whenever he got an opportunity to go outside, it used to be really celebration time for him.

He had not been allowed to venture outside on his own so far. In the night, he used to hear voices asking him to come out and enjoy the outside world. But the big gate was always closed and Tommy by experience knew that he could not open it. He had tried unsuccessfully many a time and failed. He had resigned himself to the fact that he will never be able to venture out on his own.

One day, in spite of his experience, he tried to open the gate again. He was encouraged when it opened slightly. As he pushed harder, the gate opened sufficiently enough for him to pass through. Tommy tried to push it back so that nobody noticed that he had sneaked out. But the gate did not close properly.

Once outside he started running, enjoying the scenes and smells outside. Eventually, without realising he landed in the forest. There were no houses around, not even people taking out their dogs for walk. Tommy wondered if he was lost. He stood near a tree to collect his thoughts.

He had not seen such a beautiful scene so far. He could see the clouds above and his eyes went as far as where sky met earth. The clouds appeared to be flying towards horizon. The place where he stood was a clearing in the forest. There were a few trees at the edge of clearing. He stood near a tree and for a moment forgot about his predicament.

Suddenly he sensed that there was hostile force around, something like a big cat. His instinct told him to run, but he had forgotten the route back home. From a distance he saw a large tiger coming towards him. The tiger was probably half a mile away. Now Tommy was really scared. He knew that he could not outrun such a large animal.

Just when he was thinking of rushing in any direction to escape from predator, he heard faint human voices. He ran in that direction. He was panting, with tiger in hot pursuit, when he reached the source of voices. To his pleasant surprise, it was his owner with a few neighbours. From the partially opened gate, he had guessed correctly about the direction Tommy had taken.

Tommy’s senses told him predator had run away and he was safe now. For once he was thankful that he had a house to live in and the owner who really cared about him.