Polly was looking around from inside the box. It was not too tall for him not to see the surroundings. Once in a while, he would glance at Terry. He couldn’t believe that she could do this to him. “I mean, she saved me from the storm, she kept me warm, she fed and even gave me a bath only to throw me away? That just does not make any sense.”
Polly was busy with his thoughts that before he knew it, they were hailed in a three-wheeled vehicle, a tricycle, as they called it. The box where he was in was not on the floor. It was on her lap. Sometimes, he would feel her hand on his body when the ride would go over rough parts of the road.
“Where could she be taking me?”
Furry Friends Grooming Services and Pet Supplies. The tricycle stopped right in front of it. The shop looked really nice and clean and there were lots of pictures of purebred dogs and cats. It was much like Patty’s Pet Shop and Pet Supplies but a little sma“I can’t understand why Terry has to get another dog. There’s so many of us already!”Tagpi posed the question while the three of them were in their crates during school hours.Since there were only three crates, Polly had to join Popo in his. He was the only one nice enough to share the space with him.Polly pretended to be asleep. He wanted to find out what these dogs think about him.“We should get used to it. That’s how Terry is.”Bantay replied.“Popo, I can’t believe you are taking another responsibility. Remember the time you got separated with Cattlily? I knew how difficult that time was for you. It was hard to start a friendship with someone and then having it abruptly end.” Tagpi said.“What are you implying? That I should get mad at Terry for taking Cattlily away?” Popo whispered. He did not want to wake Polly up.
Polly always looked forward to mornings and afternoons just like Popo, Bantay, and Tagpi. At dawn, the three large dogs would assemble by the gate looking at the path where Terry would walk with a basket of food.Polly wanted to join them there. He was excited, too, but he was afraid he might rock the hierarchy. He felt then that it was only Popo who had truly accepted him. So he just content himself watching the three dogs welcome Terry. They jumped, they spinned at the mere sight of their human.“I do not know whether they had been trained but at least when it comes to patience and control at meal time, the three certainly displayed them to a T.”They just stayed in their open crates as Terry divided the food.“One, two, three bowls.” Polly counted. The bowl that Polly was using in the last few days was that thin microwavable plastic that always got ruined. Much like the temporary food bowls that Cornelio used f
It was tiring hopping from one situation to another. Polly missed the certainty that his mother and brothers brought to his life. It was truly a roller coaster ride for him since he was left alone.“Polly! Polly!” Polly heard voices calling his name in nothing short of a whisper. He looked around but saw no one.“Polly! Polly!” the voices called again. He stood up on all fours inside the closed crate. Polly looked at Tagpi and Bantay. It seemed like they were hearing the voices, too but preferred to just ignore it. Popo seemed to be doing the same.“Over here,Polly!” slowly he two heads started to appear from the left side of the front gate.“Martin? Bruno?…Am I dreaming?”The two dogs did not respond. They walked away.“Who’s Martin? Who’s Bruno? Popo asked.Polly sat before answering. “They are my friends.
“Woooh! Look at mom go!” Four tiny puppy heads watched as their mother jumped over the bushes three feet tall while they were taking a walk. After clearing the jump, Lily, their mother, peeped through the tiny space between the leaves - “Pass through here, my little boys. One day, you’ll be able to jump like that!” The puppies looked at one another, tails wagging except for Polly who still had not learned how to move his tiny tail. “Let Polly go first.” their mother said. Polly positioned himself. He was able to get his head out to the side where his mother was but he just could not get his body to pass all the way through. He could not get his left leg to bend. It kept on lodging onto the stem. “Faster, Polly! How hard can it be?” his older brother, Bitok impatiently shouted. It took Polly several tries and when he saw his brothers becoming angry, he leaned with all his energy even if it hurt
“Cornelio!” Mr. Ricky Santos called. Mr. Ricky Santos was a dog breeder. He had been breeding dogs for years. He had amassed large sums of money just from breeding dogs. One would think that one had to really have a heart for animals to become a breeder, but apparently, such was not the case for this guy. “Yes, Mr. Santos!” Cornelio came running all sweaty from all the cleaning he’s been doing practically the whole day. Cornelio was Cornelio Junior actually. He’s young at only 16 years old, tall but not muscular unlike his father, Cornelio, Senior. He was taking over his father’s duty as caretaker of the animals. Cornelio Senior got sick months ago and had not since come back to Mr. Santos’ farm. “Are all the kennels clean?” Mr. Santos said in his usual raspy voice, left hand on his waist and his right-hand fingers running along his moustache. “Almost done, Sir!” “Make sure, they’re all ready for to
“Wait for me! Wait for me!” Polly repeatedly screamed. He had never screamed that loudly before but loud as his voice was, his mother couldn’t hear him. He ran after the vehicle. No matter how painful it was to move his legs, he ran. He ran like he never ran before. He ran pretending to hear Basil’s voice egging him on. But the van got tinier and tinier in his sight until it totally disappeared from a distance. “Stupid dog!” Mr. Santos said as he watched Polly run after the van. Cornelio was about to run after Polly but - “Cornelio, what are you doing?” “I’m getting the dog, Sir.” “Just go clean up. Nobody wants that dog anyway.” Mr. Santos smirked as he walked back to his house. Meanwhile, a few blocks away from the farm, Polly sniffed the ground. He discovered early on that sniffing was his best weapon. He may not run very fast but boy could he sniff! He realized however
“Where does this energy come from?” Polly asked himself. “Hours ago, I was lying helpless waiting for death and now?… Wow!” There were times when he felt so confident about himself. He walked with a swagger to the beat of the music in his head. His mother liked it when he walked like that. She thought that walk made him even cuter. The song in his head was Roamby the B-52s, another band from the 80s. If there was one thing good about Mr. Santos, it’s the music that he played in the farm. He remembered seeing everyone’s head bobbing to this tune, much like those toy dogs in people’s cars. Sometimes he imagined himself wearing sunglasses as he danced to this. Boy Mercury shooting through every degreeOh girl dancing down those dirty and dusty trailsTake it hip to hip, rocket through the wildernessAround the world the trip begins with a kiss
The street that used to be abandoned during that thunderstorm of the night before was waking up to a brand new day. Somehow the rains had brought a deeper hue to the surroundings - the leaves are more green, the flowers are more red, more yellow, more orange - the earth more brown - “Hmmmmm” as he inhaled the smell of the morning breeze, coupled with various scents from all over - people, food!“Food, Oh my God! I feel like I have forgotten how food tastes like.” “Shoo! Shoo!”coupled with a mild whip of walis tingtingon Polly’s small frame. He cried with no sound walking backwards away from an elderly woman who was doing her early morning sweep of the frontyard. “I didn’t see that coming!” Polly sighed. While that was not the first time he felt a whip on his body or being shooed away, it still did not lessen how it felt deep in his chest. But it was not the time to be sad. There was
It was tiring hopping from one situation to another. Polly missed the certainty that his mother and brothers brought to his life. It was truly a roller coaster ride for him since he was left alone.“Polly! Polly!” Polly heard voices calling his name in nothing short of a whisper. He looked around but saw no one.“Polly! Polly!” the voices called again. He stood up on all fours inside the closed crate. Polly looked at Tagpi and Bantay. It seemed like they were hearing the voices, too but preferred to just ignore it. Popo seemed to be doing the same.“Over here,Polly!” slowly he two heads started to appear from the left side of the front gate.“Martin? Bruno?…Am I dreaming?”The two dogs did not respond. They walked away.“Who’s Martin? Who’s Bruno? Popo asked.Polly sat before answering. “They are my friends.
Polly always looked forward to mornings and afternoons just like Popo, Bantay, and Tagpi. At dawn, the three large dogs would assemble by the gate looking at the path where Terry would walk with a basket of food.Polly wanted to join them there. He was excited, too, but he was afraid he might rock the hierarchy. He felt then that it was only Popo who had truly accepted him. So he just content himself watching the three dogs welcome Terry. They jumped, they spinned at the mere sight of their human.“I do not know whether they had been trained but at least when it comes to patience and control at meal time, the three certainly displayed them to a T.”They just stayed in their open crates as Terry divided the food.“One, two, three bowls.” Polly counted. The bowl that Polly was using in the last few days was that thin microwavable plastic that always got ruined. Much like the temporary food bowls that Cornelio used f
“I can’t understand why Terry has to get another dog. There’s so many of us already!”Tagpi posed the question while the three of them were in their crates during school hours.Since there were only three crates, Polly had to join Popo in his. He was the only one nice enough to share the space with him.Polly pretended to be asleep. He wanted to find out what these dogs think about him.“We should get used to it. That’s how Terry is.”Bantay replied.“Popo, I can’t believe you are taking another responsibility. Remember the time you got separated with Cattlily? I knew how difficult that time was for you. It was hard to start a friendship with someone and then having it abruptly end.” Tagpi said.“What are you implying? That I should get mad at Terry for taking Cattlily away?” Popo whispered. He did not want to wake Polly up.
Polly was looking around from inside the box. It was not too tall for him not to see the surroundings. Once in a while, he would glance at Terry. He couldn’t believe that she could do this to him. “I mean, she saved me from the storm, she kept me warm, she fed and even gave me a bath only to throw me away? That just does not make any sense.” Polly was busy with his thoughts that before he knew it, they were hailed in a three-wheeled vehicle, a tricycle, as they called it. The box where he was in was not on the floor. It was on her lap. Sometimes, he would feel her hand on his body when the ride would go over rough parts of the road. “Where could she be taking me?” Furry Friends Grooming Services and Pet Supplies. The tricycle stopped right in front of it. The shop looked really nice and clean and there were lots of pictures of purebred dogs and cats. It was much like Patty’s Pet Shop and Pet Supplies but a little sma
“So I am not dead!That’s one cause for a celebration.“And my human finally noticed me!”“Your human? I don’t think that’s right!”it was the white dog with brown patches that spoke, the leader of the three, the one that stayed in the middle crate.“Yeah, it’s premature for you to say that!”agreed the black one.Polly was about to say something when he felt his legs depart from the ground. When he looked behind him, he saw that his human was carrying him with her bare hands. He could feel all ten fingers, her palm supporting his whole body.He had never experienced being held like that by a human. He was so high from the ground. If he fell, he could really break more bones. But he looked at her face. She did not look like she was about to do that.She then held Polly with just one hand and opened the crates of the three larg
Heavy rains continued to pour. So heavy that it felt like nails pricking every part of Polly’s body. There were no more children and adults passing that alley. It was just Polly stuck on one side of it. He sat there just trembling. His brain was commanding his body to move but his muscles refused to follow.He closed his eyes praying for the rain to stop and even the rain refused to do so. Instead, it went on in the same intensity for hours. It felt like the rain was pressing him further down onto the ground.“This is it. This is how I am going to die.” with no one in sight to rescue him, he was certain that he would not last for a few more hours under that heavy downpour.“But no! I can’t die like this! All I have to do is hold on a little longer. Just like what I’ve been doing time and again. I don’t have my mother and brothers to cheer me on, no Pilita or Lupita to share the agony with, no Martin and Brun
Polly hid behind the bushes right when the human he was waiting for was passing by.“I can’t believe you did that!” Dory said placing her left wing on her forehead.Polly spoke from where he was hiding. “What?”“Oh, come on out here. You just blew your chance to be noticed.”“I’m too scared. I haven’t recovered from what happened to Saucy. I don’t think I can take another heartbreak.”“You are just going to see if she will notice you! And if what those three dogs have told me were true, then I don’t think you will have your heart broken.”“I’m sorry but I don’t believe you can talk with those three big dogs. It’s just not possible.”“Okay, watch me.” Dory flew first to the branch of a narra tree in front of the crates.The teacher, Poll
The sun was already up when Polly woke up. The Christmas lights were off. Those melodies that lulled him to sleep could no longer be heard. He fell asleep in full view of all the people passing by. He could have died just by being stepped on. He was so tired that all his guards were off when he fell asleep.He could feel his tummy rumbling. He had not eaten in the last few days. He had not groomed, too. He licked his paws and rubbed them off his face. He could taste the dust that were stuck thick onto his fur. It was awful! It was disgusting. “No wonder those cats and dogs were looking at me with disgust!”He continued to lick the parts of his body that he could reach. The wound that he had from the thorn of the bougainvillea plant and the cuts that he got from being dragged by the fishball vendor were healing but he had lost considerable amounts of fur on his body.Polly looked back at his tail, wagged him left and right. “W
Polly did not know how long he had walked. All he knew was that he must get as far away from that place as he could. But no matter how far he had gone, he was still being tormented by that moment that the man killed his friend. The scene was playing on repeat in his head. He couldn’t take it off. He willed his mind to think of happy thoughts. He willed his mind to sing that song that he used to sing with his mother, or that song that he used to sing with Pilita, or Lupita. None of them worked. He thought he had seen it all but nothing could ever be as terrifying as that moment. He wished that the last moment Saucy would bring with her was that moment when she felt she was needed and loved. He wished that it was that moment with the humans she used to have, or the ones with her puppies, or the ones with Martin, Bruno and her whole pack, or maybe the beautiful moments they had together. Thinking about those moments, he realized most of their moments were diffic