I happened to see a netizen who said that the best thing he did when he was a teenager was to keep a dog.
His dog, a stray dog he picked up, is now 15 years old.
He also said: I thought I saved the dog, but the dog actually saved me.
His words touched my dusty past for many years, and I couldn't help but burst into tears.
Back in time, many years ago, I also adopted a stray dog.
01
That day, after eating, the young son and husband went out for a walk and did not come back for a long time.
Finally, when they entered the door, there was a black and white puppy behind them.
It does not look expensive, but it does not affect the cuteness of the appearance.
My initial guess is that this is a hybrid of an earth dog and a black back.
It was not afraid to see me, and when it came up, it ran to my feet and sniffed back and forth, and licked my feet with joy.
The son said he and his husband found it walking on the road, and then it ran up and licked his son's feet.
At that time, the son was not afraid of dogs, and naturally he was also surprised by accidents, and he had been happily teasing it.
When the son was about to leave, the puppy did not go far, and followed the son all the way.
When he was almost home, the puppy still had no intention of leaving.
The husband made a decision: since this dog is so friendly with the child, then adopt it!
I have also always liked dogs, and when I see my son and husband like it, naturally there is no difference.
Although it was the height of summer, the in-laws returned to their hometown to escape the heat, the three of us went to work, went to school, and the puppies were not taken care of at home.
However, at that time, it was not as long as it was thought. And, I firmly believe that it can be taken care of.
Since there was no food for the puppies at home, I immediately went downstairs and bought a pack of ham sausages.
That night, the puppy ate a lot of ham sausages and drank some milk.
The son named it "Lightning".
02
Although I raised a lot of dogs in the countryside when I was a child, I was still the first time to raise a dog in the city, and I had no experience at all, so naturally I made a lot of jokes.
The next day, I took lightning to the pet hospital and asked for an injection and a bath.
But the professional doctors refused to look at the lightning and told me that they needed to be at home for more than half a month before they could take a bath and get injections.
I came back sadly with lightning. Let the son grab its leg with his hand and start bathing it in the bathroom and blow drying it.
At first, it was not used to it, twisting and turning around in fear, but later, it began to adapt, just standing quietly like that, motionless.
Because of its meekness and cooperation, gradually, I was able to bathe it alone.
Then, the dog food, bedpan, dog leash, bathing and sterilization potions bought for him also came back, and I used them one by one.
During the day we go to work and school, shut lightning in the house, and leave it with enough dog food and water.
In the evening, lightning accompanied us, and there was a lot of joy and warmth in the home.
However, the trouble that has always been that Lightning has never learned to use the potty.
So, every day when I come back from work, the first thing I need to do is shovel and pee.
Sometimes, after a tiring day, there will inevitably be resentment when cleaning.
Thinking that he should let the dog know his mistake, he carried the lightning to his work, reprimanded him fiercely, and even scolded him.
Whenever this happens, it always runs under the couch, burrows into the innermost part, and never comes out again.
It was the lightning security, and it seemed that in that case, humanity would never be able to hurt it again.
As soon as my son came home, he loved to sit on the couch and watch cartoons. Lightning hid in the couch and played with his son.
Once, while they were playing, lightning was out of proportion and bit the skin of his son's tender fingers.
It was already 10 p.m. and I didn't know which hospital had rabies vaccine.
So, one by one, I called. Finally got the rabies vaccine and came home, it was already more than 12 o'clock in the middle of the night.
Unaware that he had run into trouble, Lightning happily emerged from under the couch and ran to the door to greet him.
The son is still friendly with him regardless of the previous suspicions, and the husband has not yet returned home.
03
If the husband did not come home, Lightning would definitely not return to the balcony by himself and sleep in his nest on the balcony.
It always burrows into the innermost part of the sofa, and no matter how I call it, I can't come out.
I had to wait until the footsteps of my husband came home, and he ran out from under the sofa.
It rushed to the door, stood there, happily waiting for the man who had made the decision to take it in, twisting the key, opening the door, and walking in again.
It must be holding her husband's feet, kissing and nibbling, and its tail is swinging vigorously.
The husband enjoyed the enthusiasm and loyalty of lightning, and seemed to be unable to stand it, shouting "Okay, okay" in his mouth, but the fatigue on his face was swept away and a smile appeared.
The last thing my husband did after washing up was to call out the lightning under the couch, carry it into the balcony, and close the door.
However, how naughty the puppy is, it loves to move, and it is more eager to be close to the human being who treats it well.
Every morning, at five or six o'clock, I was woken up by the sound of its door slamming.
I knew that it had been locked up all night and wanted to go out and spread wilderness.
Anyway, I couldn't sleep, my son had a husband to accompany him, so I put a dog leash on him and took him downstairs to exercise.
As soon as it went downstairs, it couldn't wait to solve the internal emergency and began to rejoice.
Lightning was in front of it, running like a gust of wind. When it ran, its two pointed ears were erect, majestic, like a black back.
Because of this, my husband often says that lightning may be a small black back.
I pulled the leash behind me, but the little guy ran so fast that I couldn't keep up with it.
It always drags me down, and I can't run well. I always had regrets, and I thought about giving it the freedom to run.
04
Finally, it's time to take lightning for preventive injections.
The conclusion given to lightning by the pet doctor confirms our suspicion that it is just a string.
The doctor opened its mouth, looked at its teeth, and said that this puppy was only over a month old.
I never expected the lightning to be so small, and I was a little distressed in an instant, so I vowed to treat it better.
In those days, my son and I were always inseparable from lightning, and wherever we appeared, there was always lightning.
It is so lively and lovely, full of the vitality of life, it seems that it will never know tiredness and sadness.
Although it is not a precious breed, it lives healthier than them, which is what I have always been pleased with.
In the morning, I still go out with lightning to work out. Out of the south gate of the community, go east, and cross another road to reach your destination.
When I exercise, lightning always rolls and frolicks in the nearby grass, and occasionally catches some small bugs or birds, but always without harvest.
Occasionally, I would meet other people of the same kind, and lightning would either be afraid or close.
Once, after a workout, when I was walking back with lightning, I met several stray dogs.
Among them, as soon as Lightning saw one of the big dogs, he rushed up to kiss him.
I let lightning kiss it for a while, and when I was about to leave, I called lightning, but he was still attached to the big dog and refused to leave.
There was no way, I went up and picked up the lightning, and the big dog followed for a while, and then disappeared.
At the time, I didn't think much about lightning's relationship with the big dog, I just thought it had met a friend.
Later, I thought about it for a while, and the big dog, probably Lightning's mother, was the one who took Lightning away and separated them from mother and son.
After thinking about it, I felt cruel. However, I have not met that big dog since.
In the company of lightning, my long-lost sense of security slowly returned, and I was happier and happier every day.
05
After some time, once, when it was just getting dark, I went to exercise with lightning again.
It ran wildly all the way, and I suddenly thought, it was still early today, there should be no people and cars, to give it a free running speed.
At the thought of it, I untied the dog leash. Lightning ran wildly for a while, then stopped and waited for me, and then ran again.
It solved the internal emergency before it was necessary to cross the road and I waited for it on the side of the road.
When I was done, I took it with me and prepared to cross the road, and I habitually stood still and looked to the left and right of the road.
But I didn't have time to stop the lightning.
In the gray morning, a white car that was not driving slowly, first the front wheel hit the head of lightning, and I cried out in horror, "Lightning."
However, the inertia of the car made it impossible for it to stop immediately, and then the rear wheel hit the head of lightning again.
Watching it being hit one after another, I was angry and anxious and distressed, and I desperately held the small body of lightning and began to cry.
The driver came down to look at the lightning, saw that it was a dirt dog, and quickly left, so sad that I didn't even see the license plate number.
I called the pet doctor and the doctor said he didn't go to work until 8 o'clock.
The next time, I didn't know what to do, walking back with lightning, crying as I walked.
Lightning was quiet in my arms, and it was already uncontrollably beginning to drool and gasp loudly.
When I walked downstairs to the gazebo, I was comforted by an old man sitting inside, and he asked me to sit in the gazebo for a while, calm down, and then go home.
Watching the lightning get worse and worse, my tears are getting more and more, and the sky is starting to rain.
I got home and put the lightning into a cardboard box.
The husband immediately got up, took his son, drove the car, and we went to the pet hospital together.
At our request, the doctor finally gave lightning a cardiac injection, but its condition did not improve.
It still drooled and gasped for breath.
Seeing that it was so painful, we were all worried that lightning would not survive this level, but we did not give up on it.
We would pour water on it every day, but the water came out again.
Lightning's condition was getting worse and worse, and after waiting for three days, its vital signs were getting weaker and weaker, and only a hard gasp remained.
The husband made a decision to bury lightning early. He said that it had chosen a feng shui treasure for lightning and hoped that it would have a good future in the next life.
I couldn't bear the lightning to be tortured anymore and agreed.
That night, there was not a single star in the sky, and it seemed that we were all secretly sad about the departure of lightning, and my husband and I drove away with it.
The husband prepared a pillow for his car, an old dress he wore and a cardboard box.
The sky was raining, I was drenched in rain, flashlights were shining, my husband was digging a pit in the rain, and we buried lightning.
As I sat in the car, I thought that lightning would never have to suffer again, and the tears began to fall again.
06
Long after the lightning went, I was sullen.
I took it in, shoveled and peed for it, gave it food and drink.
I thought I had saved the dog, but the dog had saved me.
In those days, it was it that accompanied me to exercise, without which I would not have gone.
It was it that saved me from loneliness and slowly regained my lack of security.
It melted my coldness and made me feel the warmth I had been missing for a long time.
But I didn't teach it the rules of human existence.
So lively and lovely, enthusiastic and loyal, it was finally hurt by human beings and harmed by my ignorance.
I've always blamed myself, and many years after that, my son still blames me.
Many times he said with tears in his eyes, Mom, it was you who caused the lightning.
Yes, I hurt it and didn't take care of it.
Many times, I have wondered, if lightning continues to wander with the stray dog mother, will it still run in the sun and be free?
Or maybe Lightning will meet another kind person who knows how to keep dogs and takes good care of Lightning.
Then, a good story between a loving man and a loyal dog is circulated.
The day the lightning bolt was struck was June 23, 2016. I will always remember this day.
When lightning left, it was only a little over two months. Since then, I have stopped having dogs, and I am always afraid that I will not be able to take care of them.
On the street, whenever I see a dog crossing the road alone, my eyes will stare at them intently, and my heart will be tugged, for fear that they will be hit.
However, I know that no matter how hard I try to beat my heart, my lightning, which has come to my life for a short time and in real time, will never come back.
Lightning left, it's been 4 years.
This is the first time I have written its story in its entirety.