The Underdog Part 8; The City Calling

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It is now 2 years and our little Pawteers have settled well into the territory of Blackie, no dog knows what really happened to Blackie, some say he exiled himself to the outskirts of the city, some say he was hit by a big vehicle when crossing the road... there are many such anecdotes, yes anecdotes, for Blackie vanished like smoke in the air... Leaving no trace. None of his shadows remained either, they never terrorized dumpsters or were not seen by any of the dogs on the streets.  In a single sweep, peace returned to the area of the old pipe. The old pipe was removed from its place by the water torrent hence providing no use to any dog living or dead.

Our little Pawteers were now not so little, Goldie moved on to make a family and had a litter of her own. Their uncle Raggy would teach them all the tricks to get away from ticks and fleas. They would come to Browny who would keep special meat pieces aside for them. Life was fun. Years had gone by, and the dogs of the mound in their unison, had already made Browny their leader but Browny wasn't interested at first since his stay on the mound was to be temporary. Instead, now that he had taken the leadership role he was, like all dog leaders do, got busy managing his little mound. In this management, he would circle his territory a few times a day, and scavenge for food, sometimes food came to him, and sometimes he had to go in search of it. rest of the time, he kept himself busy dusting fleas, watching over his little dog kingdom. and breaking fights around the dumpster.

One fine evening when Browny was strolling leisurely on his evening patrol, his attention was caught by the little glittering object that shined an orange hue, as the sinking orb that provided warmth was cooling himself down after a day's workout. Browny walked towards this object, and within a heap of garbage, he could find a dog tag, similarly like how he had seen on the dog in the car. Memories flooded his mind and instinctively Browny looked backed at the silhouetting city. He remembered his purpose to leave home, his mother, and his siblings. To chase a dream, so wild. He pondered on his dream and made a decision. 

The next day he urged all the dogs of the mound to gather around the mound, all the dogs gathered and anticipated an important announcement. There was a problem with allotting of dumpsters which had to be resolved, the water was not good enough and the dogs often complained to management about changing it to a play pool and shifting their drinking pool to somewhere else. all the trivial things that bother a dog's life. But Browny had something in mind and when he spoke, he said " Dear brothers and sisters of the mound, I stand before you not as a leader but one that of the race of the canines, one that cherishes dreams like all of you do. So today, I will tell you about my dream. I have a dream, dream of getting loved unconditionally, dream of getting away from the streets into the cozy houses that surround our mound. I have a dream of being seated in the car and feeling the air in my hair, and on my tongue and I have this dream, I would now like to make true. None of the dogs gathered understood a thing, they all probably thought Browny went crazy and were a little aghast at this surprise announcement. there was no good dog to replace Browny the just.  Few dogs enquired and all they got was another announcement. Browny appointed Raggy as his successor and he simply stepped down. Goldie approached him slowly as her post-pregnancy fat slowed her down. She asked the reason and about the dream, Browny told her all about it and bid her farewell then and there. He walked past the dogs who looked up to him, bowed their heads, and wagged their tails to show their awe and appreciation of the leader who was just, kind, and benevolent.

Leaving as he came, having nothing but his grit, courage, and determination. Browny left a crowd of admirers behind, a kingdom of goodness, dear friends, and all the other dogs of his dog kingdom. His eyes watered and steps became heavy, his resolution shook a little of hesitation, but enduring all this and letting go of the tear held back, Browny lifted his face up and looked at the silhouetted buildings, teeming with lights like those millions of stars in the clear night sky. he was walking towards his dream.  Surely his dream was engulfed by the darkness and he, our browny just focussed on the little stars not heeding the darkness.

Behind him, Raggy walked to the mound, announced the allotment of dumpsters where he allotted himself the biggest one, and changed the drinking pool, although this concerned all the dogs gathered they were not looking at Raggy, they were paying respect to the leader who stepped down from the power like it was a dog's play and went to pursue his dreams. Goldie cried a lot, she loved him, but she needed to be with her family, her litter needed her and all the little members of the litter cooed as their favorite uncle was walking away.


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To be continued.


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