2

The dog, tilting his head to the side, looked at her with a searching gaze. She wanted to drive him away, but thought about it.

- Or is your house in the same direction? – Anika asked, pointing in the direction where she was going. - If so, then I don’t dare detain you. Go home.

I waved it off and decided not to pay attention to him. Perhaps he really lived somewhere in the same area and would find his way home himself. But the dog followed her to her house.

Approaching the gate of her yard, Anika stopped and looked back at her pursuer. The dog stopped two dozen meters from her, watching carefully. As soon as the girl opened the gate, he moved towards her.

Anika watched in amazement as a huge black dog jumped into the yard without an invitation.

“So much impudence,” she said, looking at the dog circling around the yard.

The dog ran around the courtyard in front of a small two-story cottage, sniffing and looking around. There was not much free space around the house: a couple of meters from the building to the border with the neighboring plot. The entire street consisted of houses of the same type, built by one construction company, selling them and renting them out into the arena.

The girl followed him and closed the gate. The dog sat down near the threshold and looked back at her over his shoulder. And his gaze was somehow cunning and mischievous.

- What should I do with you? - Anika wondered, looking at the hefty dog ​​in her small yard. - Okay, since I interfered with your fate, I’ll have to change it completely.

She smiled at the dog, stroked his head and scratched him behind the ear.

“If your owner can’t be found, I’ll find you a new one,” Anika said, sighing. - You seem to be a kind dog, so there shouldn’t be any problems with this.

The girl sat down next to him, and the dog turned out to be as tall as her. Looking at and stroking the beautiful animal, she remembered her childhood dreams of a big dog that would protect her and scare away possible offenders. But my parents did not allow me to have one like this. Only small dogs that would take up little space and eat little. And even now this is not permissible for her, the animal required attention and care, and with her busyness this was impossible. She began to scratch his neck and chest, and the dog whined contentedly.

- The rope probably makes you itchy? - she asked him with understanding and continued scratching her neck.

The girl went into the house, leaving him in the yard, which was completely fenced, without fear of escape, and it did not seem that he wanted to leave her. Arriving at the house, Anika decided that the poor animal was worth feeding. It is unknown how long it spent at that tree, since it followed her. Apparently he was very hungry. Taking a piece of meat out of the freezer, she defrosted it in the microwave. Leaving the house, she offered the dog something to eat. He sniffed it, but didn’t want to eat. Anika shrugged and left the piece next to the dog.

“Sorry, I can’t offer anything else,” she said, looking at the dog. - I don’t have dog food.

Looking outside later, she discovered that the dog had eaten what was offered.

The hot day, smoothly turning into a cool evening, ended with swirling clouds in the sky and thunder in the distance. Having prudently closed all the windows in case of a thunderstorm, Anika got ready to go to bed. Flashes of lightning flashed through the window, followed by peals of thunder. The girl drew the curtains tightly and, lying down on the bed, wrapped herself in a blanket. Heavy drops drummed on the glass, setting the frequency. The rain lulled me, but the sharp peals made me shudder. Anika was already dozing when a terrible howl was heard under the window.

- What the hell! - She jumped up on the bed and listened.

Outside the window, the street was illuminated by a flash, and another boom was heard. The rain drummed steadily on the glass. And again the howl. The dog under the threshold began to howl piercingly, shouting above the thunderstorm.

Anika was worried that he would wake up all the neighbors in the area with his terribly loud voice. Jumping out of bed, she ran downstairs and opened the door. The dog sat on the threshold, raising his head, and howled.

- Come on, stop it! You're not in the forest! - Anika exclaimed. - You're disturbing people's sleep.

The dog looked at her with a pitiful look and raised his head again to howl.

“Okay,” the girl sighed, realizing what he was trying to achieve, and let him into the house.

The dog jumped into the house with a joyful look.

“You’re a cunning one,” she said, narrowing her eyes, when the dog settled down on the rug in the kitchen. - Apparently, you lived in the house, right?

The dog looked at her with guilty blue eyes and laid his head on his folded paws.

“Just don’t be stupid,” Anika threatened him with her finger. - So that there is order here in the morning.

The dog grumbled dissatisfiedly, as if he understood every word. Anika, amused by the beast's cunning trick, went to the bedroom on the second floor. As soon as the door closed behind the girl, he raised his head and began to warily examine the room in which he found himself. The large and spacious kitchen looked modern and neat: kitchen furniture and built-in appliances were placed along the walls in a “g” shape, there was a table with four chairs closer to the window, and a coat rack was located near the front door. The rest of the space was free, you could even throw a disco.

Having assessed the place as safe, the dog lay down and relaxed again.

The morning of the next day was sunny, nothing reminded of the night thunderstorm. Anika got up and went to the bathroom to wash. After the morning procedures, she remembered that in the evening she let the dog into the kitchen. Throwing everything away, she hurried there, fearing that the dog could do some mischief there. It wasn’t the smartest thing to let a huge strange dog into the house. “But he was so good, and his eyes were almost like those of a person,” Anika reassured herself.

Anika walked down the steps to the first floor in her pajamas. She lived alone and had no need to change clothes again.