Bewitched

Bewitched

It was a cold January morning, with a biting wind and heavy clouds that promised snow.  Thomas was never enthusiastic about school, but this particular morning with only the prospect of an exam ahead, an exam for which he had not revised, he was positively reluctant.

Life had been hard recently - well, ever since his father left, really.  He shied away from the painful memories of his father’s departure, of having to witness his mother’s desolation.  It wasn’t talked about now, locked away in a box marked forbidden, leaving him with this aching feeling of having failed, of impotency if only he had had the vocabulary to describe it.

He was in sight of the school gates when he noticed something stirring under a shrub at the side of the road.  It was a small bundle of black fur which moved as he approached it.  Suddenly he was staring into the sad brown eyes of a very young dog.

“Hello, little friend”, he said “What are you doing here?”.  He offered his hand which the puppy promptly licked.  All manner of thoughts rushed through Thomas’s head;  he should take the abandoned dog back to his home and feed it, but he knew his mother would not be pleased.  She was no ardent lover of dogs, had never allowed him to have one.  If he missed school and his exam he would be in big trouble.

Reluctantly he walked away towards the school gates.  When he glanced back the dog was following him, a few paces behind.  Thomas disappeared into the building and tried to rid his mind of those sad brown eyes.

The exam was not as difficult  as he had expected, so it was with a lighter step he emerged two hours later with his fellow pupils, into what was now a winter wonderland of fallen snow.  Of course,  the inevitable snowball fight ensued.  Amidst the joyous laughter of young boys just released from the constraints of the classroom, there came an alien sound.

“Whoof, whoof!”

Sad Eyes was having fun too, trying to intercept the snowballs as the boys threw them.  Thomas loved it and hugged the little creature, who repaid him with copious licks and much tail wagging.   Thomas knew he couldn’t just desert him.  He would take him home and risk his mother’s anger.  She couldn’t refuse to give Sad Eyes one meal and one night’s shelter.

At his front door he put his key in the lock and took a deep breath.

“You must be a very good dog, little fella”.

“Mum mum, I’m home”, he called.  “My exam was easier than expected”.

“I told you so” said his mother as she came to meet him in the hall.  “I told you……What is that?”  her voice changing ominously.

“0h please, Mum”, Thomas rushed in before his mother could say more.  “He’s an abandoned dog , and the snow is thick outside.  He will die if he has to spend the night out there, especially with no food.”

Thomas’s voice was imploring, his eyes pleading.

His mother’s lips tightened and she turned angrily towards the dog, intent on chasing him away.  But Sad Eyes knew exactly what he needed to do.  He sat perfectly still and stared directly and adoringly into Mum’s eyes.

“One night, and one night only!”.

It’s now two years later and Sad Eyes is called Bruno.  It’s a name that suits him because he is  quite a large dog and Thomas is the happiest of boys with his faithful foundling.  Life was better now.  He no longer heard his mother stifling her sobs at night.  He couldn’t say if her broken heart was mended, that wasn’t for him to know, but she was certainly happier.

He often reflects on the day he found Bruno, and the following morning when he went down to the kitchen and overheard his mother talking.  To whom?  There was no one else in the house.

Mum and Sad Eyes were standing close together and Thomas could just hear what is mother was saying.

“Little dog, your eyes have bewitched me”.

Dogs really do make life better.