"Hi,"Ioffered,asIdrewheyoungman'sfatleandfriendly,andIsejustbylookingihewassomeoneinrealcrisis。
"Ihavesomefoodherefs,"Isaid。DumbfouhebagasIsetdowerinfrontofthem。
&quhtwater,too?"heaskedincredulously。Webothkdowhe,andthepuppygreetedmeenthusiastically。
"Thato。dthisone'sDog。I'mWayhesad,stenoughtoseewhatwasiainer。
"e;Iasked。Ifeltabitihealyandsimply。"Well,IjustmovedoutherefromArizonaabeeofindwork。I'matthepointwhereI'tevehedogs。"
"Whereareyouliving?"
"Inthattruckrightthere。"Hepoioadilapidatedoldvehiclethatarkedcloseby。Ithadaralohashell,soatleasttheyhadshelterfromtheelements。
Thepuphadylapaledin。Iaskedeofworkhedid。
"I'mamedawelder,"hesaid,"Butthere'snothingouthereforeither。I'velookedahesedogsaremyfamily;Ihatetohavetosellthem,butIjust'taffordtofeedthem。"
&sayingitoverandover。Hedidn'twahem,buthe'tfeedthem。Anawfullookcameoverhisfaceeverytimeherepeatedit。Itwasasifhemighthavetogiveupachild。
&imeseemedrighttocasuallypassoverthetwenty-dollarbill,hopingIwouldn'tfurtherdamagehisalreadyshakypride。"Here。Usethistobuyyourselfsomethi;
"Well,thanks,"heslowlyreplied,uolookmeihiscouldgetusarht,too。"
"Howlonghaveyoubee;
"Allday。"
"Hasn'taopped?"
"No,you'rethefirst。"Itwaslateafternoonandquicklygettingdark。Herei,whenthesuemperaturewoulddipiies。
Mymiofast-foricturedthethreeofthemgoingwithouteveoday,perhapsforseveraldays,andspendingmanylong,coldhourscoopedupintheirie,makeshiftshelter。
Seeingpeoplebegforfoodisn'tahiscity。Butthismanstoodoutbecausehewasn'taskingforfoodforhimself。Hewasmoreedwithkeepinghisdogsfedthanwithhisownarentofnineassionatelyloveddogsofmyown,ithitadeepe。
Idon'tthinkI'lleverreallyknowwhateatthatmoment,inspiriodowhatIdidIjustkwassomethingIhadtodo。Iaskedhimifhe'dwaitthereforafewmiilIreturned。Henoddedhisheadandsmiled。
Mycarflewtrocerystwithurgency,Iradtookholdofacart。Istartedoaisleanddidn'tquituheothersideofthestore。Theitems'tbepulledofftheshelvesfastenough。Justtheessentials,Ithought。Justfoodthatleofweeksandsustaintheirmeagerexisteerandjelly。Bread。edfood。Juice。Fruit。Vegetables。Dogffood(fortypou)。Aheyshouldhavesometreats,too。Afewotherhejobwasdone。
"Thetotalesto$102。91。"saidthechecker。Ididn'tbatahepeblaerthanIcouldlegiblywrite。Itdidn'tmatterthatthemewasduesoonorthatIreallydidn'thavetheextrahundreddollarstospend。Nothingmatteredbesidesseeingthatthisfamilyhadsomefood。Iwasamazedatmyowyandthemotivationthatetospendahundreddollarsonater。Yet,atthesametime,IfeltliketheluckiestpersoobeabletogivethismanandhisbelovedpanionsatinybitofsomethingofwhichIhadsomuedthefloodgatesofgratitudeinmyo>
TheithecakewasthelookonWayne'sfaIreturhallthegroceries。"Herearejustafewthings…"Isaidasthedogslookedoi。Iwaoavoidanyawkwardness,soIhastilypettedthedogs。
"Goodlucktoyou,"Isaidamyhand。
"ThankyouandGodblessyou;nowIwon'thavetosellmydogs。"Hissmileshhtlyinthedeepeningdarkness。
It'struethatpeoplearemoreplianimals,butsometimestheybeaseasytoread。Wayneerson,someonewholookedatadogandsawfamily。Inmybook,amadeservestobehappy。
Later,onmywayhome,Ipurposelydrovepastthatsameer。Wayhedoheyhavestayedftimeiandmind。PerhapsIwillrunintothemagainsomeday。Iliketothinkthatitallturhem。