Открой мне дверь. Выпуск № 3

At first, my grandmother was seriously ill, then, within a couple of months, two of our dogs died: a huge, terrible-looking, but kind on the inside Scolann Ku – an Irish wolfhound, and a hurtful, but cute Sona – a Central Asia Shepherd dog or Alabay The first one died of old age, the second – from a complication after a planned surgical intervention. She was only 2 years old.

"I told you, don't take any dogs, it's so hard to experience their death," my husband used to grumble; according to his logic, "it's better not to be born, then you won't die".

"You're right, my dear. No more dogs! That's it, I promise!"

It is impossible to convey in words the pain of such loss. So that no one could see my tears, I went wandering into a forest, following the same paths where I used to walk first with my three dogs (at that time Whita, my beautiful Whita, the Polish Tatra Sheepdog, was still alive), then with the other two, then with one… During one of those walks, I met a woman, a familiar face, one of the dog owners in the area.

"So, what happened? Why are you alone, without your dogs? Why are you crying?" she enquired and turned to me in the hope of starting a conversation.

"I'm crying, because I'm all alone, my dogs are no more… they died!" I sobbed in response.

"Oh, what a grief! But don't cry, take a dog from the shelter!"

"Me? From the shelter? What are you talking about? I have always had purebreds, expensive dogs of rare breeds, which most people have seen only in movies.

And in the shelter live mongrels, unimaginable hybrids, and they are all with a broken psyche. No, that's not for me."

"Well, do as you like. Otherwise, go to the website of our shelter. It's called "Eco", I'm a volunteer there. Tell me if you decide: we will help you choose a dog".

"No, thank you," I sobbed and continued further.

All the next week, sitting at work in front of my computer monitor, I would ever so often sniffle, remembering my loss.

On Friday, at lunchtime, holding in my left hand a glass of warm sugary juice "Multivitamin", which could only be drunk because of the lack of any alternative, the fingers of my right hand typed in the search engine by themselves – shelter "Eco". A couple of clicks and I was on the main page, from which two pairs of eyes were looking back at me – belonging to mongrels, black and mostly white.