A Howl Beneath The Concrete Beam
The dog threw his head back toward the highway overpass and let out a long howl into the falling rain.
Water dripped continuously from his ears, matting the tan fur along his neck into dark, pointed clumps. Cars rushed past on the slick asphalt, casting yellow reflections across the deep puddles beside the curb.
He paced against a concrete pillar covered in graffiti, his blue collar soaked through. His paws tapped the wet ground as his throat tightened with another sharp bark.
A pedestrian in a dark waterproof jacket walked down the pavement, holding two brown paper grocery bags in her hands. The dog spun in her direction the second her boots splashed against the asphalt.
Paws Splashing Through Dark Puddles
He trotted straight toward the woman, circling once before planting both front paws directly into a wide puddle.
The water splashed against his chest as he turned his body around and began walking away. Every three steps, he twisted his head over his shoulder to check if she was keeping up.
The woman slowed her pace, adjusted the grocery bags against her sides, and took a step toward him. Seeing her move forward, the dog broke into a quick trot along the sidewalk.
He kept to the edge of the curb, guiding her past the streetlights and deeper into the shadow of the overpass.
Mist from the passing cars sprayed across the wet pavement as the two continued down the street together.
The Soggy Box In The Gutter
The dog stopped abruptly near a jagged pile of rocks sitting in standing water at the curb.
He lowered his snout, pointing his nose directly toward a small, waterlogged cardboard box wedged between the stones. The cardboard had buckled beneath the steady downpour, its brown edges sagging into the puddle.
Inside the drenched container, three tiny golden puppies huddled tightly together in a knot. Their thin fur was soaked flat against their skin, and their eyes remained shut against the falling drops.
The older dog stepped back just far enough to clear a path, fixing his eyes on the woman as she approached.
The cardboard edges gave way slightly under the weight of the water pooling inside the box.
Hands Reaching Into The Rain
The woman set her grocery bags down on the damp concrete near the roadside railing.
She dropped down onto both knees in the gutter, letting her jacket drag against the wet stones. Reaching both hands into the ruined box, she slipped her fingers beneath the shivering bodies of the pups.
She gathered all three against her chest, curling her fingers around their tiny flanks to hold them off the freezing ground.
The older dog stepped forward, lowered his wet head, and pressed his snout directly against the pups huddled in her hands.
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