Chapter 8: Good Dog Coming
As the mastiff started to gain speed as he galloped back home, the black clouds above him seemed to be unable to hold the rain in anymore. A heavy downpour of rain quickly ensued, blinding Ralph all the more on the already pitch black sidewalk he was on.
Unable to see the path ahead of him, a now drenched Ralph forced himself to slow down in speed- afraid he'd accidentally veer off into the road and get hit by an unseen car if he didn't.
They really need to get out here and get these overhead street lights fixed, he complained mentally, hating that he couldn't see the road right before his paws. It's too dark when it pours like this...
Forced himself not to shiver due to the bone-chilling rain seeping through his fur straight to his skin, Ralph suddenly bumped into the side of something. Having to do a double-take, he realized he'd bump into another animal, who mumbled a few choice words at being accidentally bumped into as it scrambled away.
Looking around in shocked, the mastiff realized that he was surrounded by other moving objects- other animals, mostly consisting of dogs. He quickly figured he'd been so deep in thought that he hadn't even detected that many animals were outside on and around the sidewalk despite the poor weather.
Beginning to cautiously make his way around the other animals -all the more tedious while being so wet and practically blinded- the mastiff mumbled irritatedly to himself.
Ugh...don't you all have homes to be in right now?
"Please! Someone please help us!" a desperate yelp further shook Ralph from his thoughts, causing him to halt in his place.
For a moment, the mastiff could only cautiously squint and blink in the direction he swore he had heard the cry come from. In the downpour, he could only make out a seemly abandoned box tucked away between two buildings on the sidewalk, darkly hidden from view.
Precariously peered towards it, Ralph somehow noticed the tucked-away old box was in complete shambles- in fact, it was barely holding up in the pouring, freezing rain. The sides of the box were worn and flimsy, and the top was caved inward- and was deteriorating that much more with each heavy raindrop.
There was no way someone actually lived in that box...could there?
Yet, Ralph swore he heard the voice coming from over there in that area...
And what the voice had said wasn't something he could just dismiss so easily.
His curiosity finally getting the better of him, he ventured closer to the seemingly uninhabited box, peering inside it...
And what he found made his soft heart sink deep into his chest.
A poor, ownerless mother dog and her little puppies were residing inside to the worn box, shaking on top of a damp blanket. They had all been homeless for a while now, Ralph quickly could tell; he found it hard to even determine her or the puppies' breed by all the tangles and mats their poor, unkempt and now soaked fur contained.
The mother dog was leaned over her litter, trying her best to shield her little puppies from the downpour of rain blowing into the box- but there was no real point in doing so. The rain was too heavy, the wind was too strong, and the makeshift box they were in was too frail to offer any protection.
"Please! Can anyone spare us some food?! I-I can't just leave my litter in this fridged weather to find food for them!" The poor mother strained out weakly again, unable to see the shadow of a large mastiff peering in at her. "I'm desperate! Please help!"
Pausing to nuzzle her soddened puppies, the mother dog sweeped silently for a moment. Her tiny puppies now cuddled beside her started whimpering more and more for food, their voices getting weaker in strength.
The mother, still unable to see Ralph, looked out to the street again, a look of loss and hopelessness written across her wore face.
"Please," she whispered, her voice breaking in pain as she laid her head down in agony and defeat.
Backing slowly away from the box, Ralph instantly felt his heart break for this poor family. They were even more worse off than he was.
Jerking his head desperately back at the other animals scattered along the sidewalk for help, the mastiff instantly became slightly startled -and appalled- at what he saw there. His heart was pained by the situation with this poor mother...yet everyone else around just continued to pass by the box and all its contents, focused on their own troubles of getting home through the rain.
Each other animal seemed to be beyond just fine with completely ignoring the desperate pleas and the whole hopeless situation with the mother and puppies. They seemed to view the poor family as completely undeserving of any help, of any food or mercy...
But it was too painful for a certain so-called bad dog to ignore.
The rain letting up just slightly, Ralph blinked back the mist in his eyes to look around. He had no idea just how he was going to do it, but he had to get this poor homeless family some food- even if it was just enough to get through the night.
Blinking down the street in the direction he'd come from, Ralph spotted a lonely businessman holding a wind-blown umbrella not too far way. The drenched man was quickly dashing down the path ahead, avoiding the rain the most he could...
And safely clenched to the man's chest was a fast food sack- quickly get drenched as well.
Suddenly moved with a strong sense of pity and determination, an idea hit Ralph like a ton of bricks.
It was time for his super size and unusual power to intimidate to be put to good use.
Abandoning his place by the box, Ralph took off down the road once more. Forcing himself to halt before colliding right into the poor unexpecting man, the mastiff shook his head to regain what his plan was.
Sharply lowering his head, the dog forced his mouth into an impossibly rough snarl. His lips poised and ready, the mastiff let out one of the fiercest and most aggressive growls he had ever mustered, scaring himself a little...
And causing the completely terrified businessman to freeze in place due to panic. He nearly toppled over from shaking so hard.
"G-g-good dog, good... big and scarry dog," the man tried to say as calmly as he could as he shakily backed away...making Ralph unnoticedly roll his eyes as he felt the slight irony of it all.
The petrified man not quite working along with his plan, the mastiff decided to take his 'attack' up a notch. He began to bark threateningly real, sounding like he wanted to rip the man to shreds- and he knew by the looks of himself that he indeed could.
At the huge, intimidating dog's fierce barking, a whole new panic ran through the already shaken man. He quickly shielded his face with the sack of food...
Before slowly getting an idea on how to get this 'savage' dog away from him.
Waving the food sack shakily in front of Ralph's snout, the businessman forced a slight encouraging smile.
"Y-you want a h-hamburger, boy?" the businessman asked the growling dog, begging clear in his shaky voice.
At his words, Ralph intentionally and abruptly stopped barking and growling- and pointedly licked his mastiff lips at the bag of food. In complete relief, the man quickly tossed the bag of food as hard and as far away as he could- then quickly took off in the opposite the second Ralph turn his head towards the abandoned sack of fast food.
Snorting at the man's desperate response, Ralph smirked and shook his head. Maybe being 'big and scary' did have it's advantages sometimes.
As soon the bull mastiff had trotted over to pick up the bag of food, the bag was already starting to fall apart due to the rain- making Ralph question whether this idea was a good one or not. The food inside was probably already soaked as well, practially unedible now...
There are no bad ideas when it comes to being a good dog, Ralph told himself softly, however, as he eyed the saturated bag. Just try your best to help that others, Ralph...that's all you can do...
Quickly scooping up the dripping bag of food, the mastiff quickly carried it back over to the shambled box. On the way there, the smell of now soggy french fries and hamburger overwhelmingly filled Ralph's nose as his stomach growled longingly. He was so tempted to devour the whole meal right then and there.
No, I've got a bowl of food to go home to, he determinedly reminded himself. This poor little family doesn't...
Cautiously and slowly approaching the box as to not scare the mother dog, Ralph gently set the fast food bag down in front of her.
"Here you guys go," Ralph called softly, his voice seeping with kindness and compassion for her situation. "It's straight from Burger Time, it smells like. A little soggy- but hopefully still edible, at least."
In response, the mother pooch looked up at Ralph in shock for a moment, able to finally see him clearly as the rain let up lightly... and flinched back.
Gulping, the mastiff knew that look all too well. He knew the mother dog would hiss at him to leave, that she wouldn't dare eat anything he'd ever offer her. She'd threaten to attack him back if he even so dared tried to hurt one of her precious little puppies...
But the shock and worry on the female dog's face quickly turned into pure, unhidden gratefulness as she peered up at the bag of food in front of her now, her eyes quickly filling with tears.
"Thank you...thank you so much," she whispered tearfully, now completely unfazed by the mastiff's large size and demeanor. "You-you saved us...at least to get through another night..."
Although his eyebrows hunched slightly in worry and pity for her last words, Ralph found himself still smiling slightly and kindly at her.
"I live at the petshop just down the road, ya know," he mentioned softly, jerking his head invitingly in the direction of his home. "My owner would be happy to take you guys in an' get ya adopted out...no pressure, of course..."
The mother dog blinked at him for a moment in time, seeming to think over his invitation- but quickly shook her head.
"My puppies and I have too many health problems to be adopted out...," she murmured sadly, wincing as she drew one of her back legs closer to her stomach...revealing a large, untreated laceration on the top part of her leg. "Your owner would probably take one look at me- and want to put me out of my misery..."
Biting his lip, a hole new pain washed over Ralph- gulping down the knot forming in this throat.
"Well, Mr.Litwak is thankfully no vet, heh," he forced himself to chuckle casually in response, a gentle smile on his face, "but he knows a pretty good one around the corner that would be happy to help ya out..."
Once again, the mother blinked up at him for a moment...
Before yet again shaking her head.
"I think it's best not to accept from offer," she admitted softly, a weak smile surfacing on her face as she eyed fondly down at her puppies. "I want to remain with my puppies forever, after all..."
Following her gaze, Ralph eyed down at the puppies as well- and saw that they were cuddled close to their mother. But their little noses picked up the scent of the food quickly- causing them all to excitedly dive-bomb the bag and started to scarf up the food inside immediately. Their little tails wagging happily as they did, the mother watched them with a look of relief and contentment as she herself nibbled on a few stray fries.
One puppy -the marked runt of the group, Ralph noticed- stopped chewing on a bit of a hamburger bun to venture closer to the huge dog before him. It shocked the mastiff that the mother dog even let the puppy do so; all animals seemed to prevent their young from getting too close to the huge and seemingly threatening dog.
Instead of growling at her puppy to get away from such a 'big, dangerous dog', however, the mother dog smiled happily as her puppy had its own way of saying thank you for Ralph's kindness: playfully pawing at the air and smiling widely.
Bending lower to briefly touch noses with the happy, tiny puppy, Ralph felt himself smile softly and affectionately. He always had such a soft spot for little puppies.
Deciding now was the best time to go, the mastiff silently backed up from the box, leaving the now fed family in peace- at the moment at least.
"Well, the door at the petshop is always open if you change your mind," he told the mother softly as he gave them all one last look of hopefulness. "Hang in there..."
And as he walked away, Ralph wasn't able to ignore that the mother dog gave him one last look of gratitude, of appreciation...
One last look of approval as he left, a look Ralph didn't receive all too often- yet treasured every time he did.
As he continued to lumber off towards home, Ralph's mind suddenly resumed in thinking its swirling mess of emotions and thoughts. It all continued to eat at him, plague him deeply...
But now he couldn't help but smile ever so slightly more, feeling a little happier and better inside.
