She was lost. The old girl had traveled this trail before and it always led back home. But this time she couldn’t find the right smell to guide her.
Although it wasn’t for lack of trying. She kept her nose to the ground, searching for a familiar scent. But she found nothing.
She wasn’t exactly a young pup anymore. Her nose wasn’t as good as it had been. Long ago, she could sniff a person and tell their age, weight, and religious denomination. But now she was lost.
Still, she followed the smells until she found a highway. It was a busy highway. Big machines shot across the pavement so fast it made her ears hurt.
She looked across the road. The old girl wasn’t sure she should cross. But on the other side of the highway she saw an inviting neighborhood. She could see rooftops behind all the traffic.
Those homes looked safe and happy. She needed happy. Maybe she could find someone there who would love her. Her mind was getting so confused with hunger.
Should she cross this busy road? Was it suicide? Was is salvation?
She sat on the highway shoulder and thought about it. All she could feel was starvation. The poor thing needed food and water. That’s why she’d left home in the first place.
Her owner wasn’t a very nice man. He would often go days without feeding her, which had made her lean and ragged. Sometimes, he wouldn’t even give her water, she had to drink from ditches. In fact that’s why she left. She had crawled beneath the fence in search of water.
Then she got lost.
“WOOSH! WOOSH!” went the cars.
Big vehicles rocketed past her. She should’ve turned around, but hunger made her attempt to cross the highway.
She cautiously pranced on the pavement, hoping that the huge machines would avoid her. One car sped by so fast it…