It's a dog's world out there... - My entry to the POB Storytelling Contest #3

Brownie was the definition of a couch dog. If you look couch dog on Wikipedia, you'll probably find a photo of Brownie on it. He was the most lazy dog in the world, and would only get out of the couch for two reasons: Food and his yellow ball. Of course he would go outside when nature called, but besides that, only food and yellow ball. His owners would hide the yellow ball from him, because we was really addicted to it, but from time to time they would toss it around and make him run a little bit. One day, while he was playing with the ball, his owner went outside to get the mail. On his frenzy for the ball, it slipped from his mouth and went right through the door. Brownie didn't think twice and went after it, running like a mad dog to catch his precious ball. Unfortunately, the ball went to the street, got hit by a car and was sent flying away to the end of the street, where another car hit it and sent it even further. Brownie was not going to give up and ran as fast as he could to catch it, but the sweet moment he bit the ball, the sour reality hit him: He was now lost, away from home and his couch! So the first thing he did was...

drop that dirty, drooling ball. It was an automatic reaction because everything he saw around him was unfamiliar, he suddenly found himself in the middle of noisy cars, buses, smoke, people passing in a hurry and none of them smelled like their owners. He knew he shouldn’t be standing there in the middle of the street for too long, it was a very danger place, and had tired of hearing rumors barked in the wind by neighboring dogs about some dog who had been hit by a car over there. Brownie was shy, practically did not interact with the neighbors, but his ears were always on, listening to every bark that came to his comfortable sofa. He knew that Mrs. Wonderer's dog had bitten her niece and was now on a leash, he also knew that the German Shepherd from house 06 was not in very good health, and he knew that a few blocks away someone tried to enter the house where lives a Pug, but the dog barked a lot and the owners called the police in time. Although, none of this information was useful at that time. Before moving away from the busy street, he looked at the ball and decided that as a precaution it would be better to take it, because, at least, it was the only familiar thing he had left.

And like a friendly sofa dog, he paraded his fat folds with the ball in his mouth on the sidewalk of the neighborhood while attracting the eyes of people who, despite the constant delay, watched that fat dog with a smile. Brownie didn’t see it happen because he was distracted by a smell of food in the air, but when he found himself two little hands were pulling his ears and a huge face glued to his, and those blue eyes with curly hair said: -Doggy! Puppy! Dad! Puppy! Brownie just closed his eyes and retracted in the hope that that human attack would end, he was not very used to children, but he knew they were as adults, but much more sadistic and energetic, they could tire any puppy of a dog or cat with his unending energy and desire for fun. Brownie fancied his sweet face when he saw the girl's father coming and asking her not to hug a street dog so it could be dangerous. But seeing Brownie's "stray dog" face, the man bent down and petted the dog. -Are you lost, boy? Or do you live around here? Brownie just followed his silence with the ball in his mouth, after all, what could say? The man passed his hand over his head, thought for a while, and stood up: -Come on, daughter, we need to go, Mom is waiting. And the kid: -Doggy puppy! Puppy! And there they went.

Brownie watched them go for a while and walked another block, which was already a heavy exercise for him, it would amount to eighty comings and goings from the feed can to the couch. And when it started to get dark, feeling cornered, he lay under a marquee and rested his chin on the ball, it would be a long and cold night away from all his comfort, he was shivering with cold and insecurity, and as he started to daydream, and then he heard very close steps and opened his eyes to see two grimy feet, in a tattered sandal and a hoarse voice that said: -Look! Who are you? Why are you here? Are you hungry? The old man crouches and Brownie sees his face bearded and bruised by time and life, but still with a wide smile without some of the main teeth. It must be hard to bite someone without those teeth, Brownie thought. The old man pulled a pot from a rather dirty and old bag where he kept the rest of the pasta and meatballs he had picked up from a nearby restaurant trash after lunch, he always found good remains there. He gave it all to Brownie, who ate greedily without a second thought. The dog looked at the man with a friendly look as if to thank him, and the man laughed wildly as he rubbed the frightened Brownie's head. This was the first night away from home, but at least he had found a company.

And in the weeks that passed Brownie got to know more and more that man who had a job quite different from his former owners. He walked the streets, walked, collected trash, separated some items, sometimes found things of value and smiled, laughed, and even sang. Brownie knew that when he was very happy it meant that they would eat well and the man bought a bitter water, with a strong smell and that made him strangely dizzy, silly, and saying nonsense. But the man also drank this water when he was very sad and everything went wrong. Little by little Brownie adapted to the course of life that had been imposed on him, and in a way, he began to feel a great change within him, because now he lived the world, he experienced existence. Brownie saw all kinds of people, walked with his human friend through all the streets of that city, they could sleep in new places whenever they wanted and sometimes they had some very good foods to eat, even if on other days they ended up starving, cold or even some danger. But Brownie took on the role of protector of the man, became in fact his dog. And the ball? The ball stayed with the man who, playing games on the lawn of the central park whenever possible and also gave it Brownie in a bedtime, so that he would have comfort and perhaps a reminder of something from his old life. But honestly, Brownie realized one day, while sunbathing on her back on that huge green lawn in the park, who no longer needed his old life. His owners were good, he had everything, but he lived in an endless cycle of repetition. Now he smelled, ran, ate, played, ventured out, even though this was a much more complex and frightening world than his previous comfort, Brownie would never go back to his old world.