He was asleep. He was calmed by the steady rhythm of the moving train. He dreamed of the beautiful skies he saw when he was home, the beautiful sunsets, which were like the ones most only see on paintings. He always used to play on the terras of the monastery where he was born, until the sun had almost disappeared behind the horizon.
The train shook heavily, which woke him up. He was disappointed the dream had ended, he was homesick, but he also get curious. Where am I going? Where is my new human taking me? After a while, someone from the train came to pick him and some other luggage up, to take them to the place where he would see his new human again. The cart he was put on, was moving a lot, which made the cage he was put in fall on the ground, after which the door became loose. Curious about the new place, he got out of the cage.
Looking around, the humans seemed to look different then where he came from. They didn’t have dark, straight hair and there was something different with their eyes… Some of the people looked down and smiled at him, but his human was nowhere to be seen. He walked around. There was a child, pointing at him and asking her dad; “Why is that puppy all alone? Shouldn’t he be with someone?” The puppy was curious about the girl, she had such a soft voice and she looked at him with curiosity and tenderness. He walked over to her, wagging his tail. She kneeled down, slowly reaching out to him. After sniffing her hand, he put his head in her small, warm palm. She giggled. “Dad, can we keep him? Please?” Her dad looked down. “I’m afraid we can’t, he sure belongs to someone. I bet he or she is very worried!” The girl looked sad. “We will bring him to the counter, I’m sure someone is looking for him. That’ll make the owner happy!” The girl tried to pick him up, but he was a little bit to heavy for her. Her dad picked him up instead. When they came to the counter, the man behind it hadn’t seen or spoken to someone who lost a puppy. “I’m sorry professor, there’s been no-one here asking for a lost puppy. I’m about to close up, but if anyone shows up in the next couple of days, I’ll be sure to mention your names.” “What do you mean? We can’t keep the dog, it’s not ours! I’m sure you can keep him here?” “And keep him locked up in here all night, on his own? I don’t think so, that’s not good for him, especially when he’s still so young. Besides, he really seems to like you guys. You’ll have to make it work, I’m sorry.”
They walked home. The girl was really happy with the dog, secretly she hoped the owner would never show up. When they got home, the father got some stuff for their new guest: a carton box and a blanket to sleep in and some water. They didn’t have food and the store was closed, so he would buy some the next day. He got behind the computer and made some flyers, with a photo of the dog and his phone-number, so the actual owner could call him up to get him. As he would be on his way to the store for dog food, he would hang them through town.
“What name shall we give him?” asked the girl. “It would be weird if we just called him dog or puppy!” she laughed. Her father was astonished. He hadn’t really seen her laugh since the day her mother died. “I’m not sure if we should name him, Anna. If we do, we will get too close and it will be very difficult to say goodbye to him!” “But what if nobody will come for him? What if someone comes and doesn’t have name for him? We could always help with that!” “For now, we will just name him puppy, ok?” “Ok…” Anna was disappointed, but as soon as she saw the happy pup, she forgot and started to play with him.
After a few days, nobody had come to get the puppy. Assuming that nobody would ever be doing so, Richard thought about permanently keeping him. What would it cost? What energy would it take to have both a kid and a dog to care for? Would it be worth it? He looked at Anna. She was laying in the grass with the dog in the backyard. She was reading a book and the dogs head rested on her belly. She really seemed happier since he was in the house, he could be the cure, he could bring her the happiness back she once knew. He walked outside and sat down next to the happy couple. “Hey honey,” he said. “can we talk for a moment?” She nodded and closed her book. He looked at her, then to the puppy. “We still didn’t hear from the owner and since it has been almost a week now, I think we can presume he or she never will. What do you think about keeping him?” Anna couldn’t believe what she just heard. Did he really just said they could keep him? “Do you really mean that, dad? Really?” Her smile was as bright as the sun. He laughed. “Yes, I mean it! So I guess, we should think of a name for him.” “I searched on the computer. He is an Akita, some kind of breed. Apparently his ancestors are from a region in Japan. The sign on his collar looks like an eight and in Japanese eight is Hachi! So, what do you think of that name, Hachi?” “Hachi… Hachi… Yeah, that sounds beautiful, Anna!” Anna smiled. “Hachi,” She whispered, while stroking his head. She smiled. “Hachi.”
Anna and Hachi became really close friends. Anna was often very sad about her mother passing, but now Hachi was there to keep her company and make it a little more bearable. They also shared their happy moments. Hachi always walked her to school, which was a 15 minutes walk from home. When she was done there, Hachi would be outside the school waiting for her. In the beginning, her father would be there too, but after some time he noticed Hachi knew the way, and then he let them come and go alone, knowing Anna would be safe with him.
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