1

The summer evening was falling on the city, relieving the concrete jungle of the sweltering heat of the day, but darkness was still far away. The road that ran through the outskirts was filled with various vehicles, including public ones, with people rushing to return home at the end of the working day. The bus, following its regular route, stopped at the next stop, opening the doors for passengers. People who were at the bus stop, waiting until those wishing to leave the bus, hurried to take the empty seats.

Among the passengers who got off at the stop was a short, slender, red-haired girl. Dressed in dark gray tight-fitting pants and a blue shirt, a backpack on her back, her hair was a high ponytail of even golden-red hair that reached the middle of her back. Because of her appearance, she was often mistaken for a teenager, but Anika was no longer a child. After graduating from university, she worked in a well-paid job and lived away from her parents.

Having walked a little from the stop along the sidewalk, she paused, adjusting her backpack and looking towards the forest park that stretched along the road.

Her small rented cottage was in the residential area behind it. A green area separated a quiet area of ​​private houses from the busy highway leading to the city center. Its inhabitants rarely used public city transport, preferring private ones, but Anika was not one of them. And in the absence of her own car, she always traveled to work by shuttle buses.

As a rule, her route ran from a stop along a road that bypassed a forest park and turned into a residential area where buses did not go. This journey was long and sometimes tiring after a hard day of work, but such things happened rarely. She loved her job and the walks after it, but today was just one of those busy, exhausting days. The girl looked sadly towards the trees. There was a sudden feeling of fatigue and a reluctance to travel such a long distance when it was possible to cut it in half. I wanted to get home and relax as soon as possible. And such an opportunity was provided by a path leading directly through the forest park. This road was used by those who wanted to shorten the path from the stop to their houses.

And Anika sometimes walked along it if she wanted to quickly get home, but she rarely did this, fearing that she might be attacked in the forest, especially when she returned late. Looking up at the sky, she reasoned that it was still light enough to walk through the forest.

Enough light penetrated the sparse forest through the tree crowns, illuminating it brightly. There were practically no bushes in it, dry trees were cut out in a timely manner, so everything along the path was clearly visible. But the girl still looked around warily to avoid surprises.

Having gone deeper into the forest along the path, Anika suddenly heard a plaintive whine. Having determined where it was coming from, she discovered a dog that looked like a shepherd nearby near one of the trees. And she froze, afraid that she might attack, but the dog remained in place and whined pitifully again.

The girl took a closer look at the animal and, noticing that it was tied, sighed with relief. Looking around, she hoped to find the owner, but she didn’t see anyone else nearby and, shrugging her shoulders, decided to continue on her way. But the dog behind her squealed loudly and whined so pleadingly and pitifully that the girl’s heart sank from this desperate call for help.

“Okay,” Anika whispered. “I’ll just come closer and see if he’s hurt.”

Turning around, she left the path and approached her. The rather large black dog was without a collar, but with a rough rope around its neck, the other end of which was tied to a small tree. As the girl approached, she laid back her ears, waved her tail welcomingly and reached out to her, but a short rope held her in place. Realizing that there was no way forward, the dog whined and extended his front paw in a pleading gesture.

Anika stopped a few steps away, not daring to immediately approach the strange dog, but her pleading appearance evoked more compassion than fear. She could not stand the abuse of animals, and this creature was undoubtedly left here not with good intentions. Otherwise, why would a dog cry out to a stranger? And would a normal owner leave his pet tied to a tree with a simple rope? These were her thoughts on the spectacle she saw, which caused a storm of indignation. And hence the conclusion: some flayer tied the poor dog to a tree in the middle of the forest, dooming him to a terrible death by starvation.

The huge black dog, noticing that the girl was approaching, became worried. Looking at him, Anika stood next to him, hesitant. While he, raising his ears in interest and wagging his tail, looked at her with the same pleading look. As if to say: don’t go, don’t leave me here.

She knew from her own experience that sometimes strange dogs could be quite affectionate and treat strangers with a certain degree of friendliness. And since this one called her, he may well fall into this category.

Apparently, having sensed the girl’s fears, the dog sat down with his ears flattened and his tail actively wagging, and raised his front paw, trying to demonstrate his friendliness.

And Anika stepped even closer to him, still checking for aggressiveness and how he would react to her approach. The voice of common sense carefully reminded her: in front of her was a strange big dog. Watching her, the dog bowed his head first to one side, then to the other and reached out with his paw. In his gaze there was an amazing spark of intelligence, unusual for an animal.

So they stood opposite each other - the dog studied the girl, and the girl studied the dog. The dog had incredible blue eyes. Anika had never seen anything like this before. The fur, completely black and shiny, shimmered in the sun. A beautiful and well-groomed dog. True, it was not possible to decide on the breed. Similar to a shepherd, but very large, probably the size of a St. Bernard, if not larger. If she stood on her hind legs, she would definitely be taller than the girl. Probably one of a rare breed or a cross, and one that could be worth a lot of money. This made Anika think that she could have been kidnapped and hidden here. Wealthy people also lived in their quarter, so they could well have kept such an outlandish large animal.

Anika slowly extended her hand towards him, allowing him to sniff from a distance. The dog leaned forward, stretching his neck as far as the rope would allow.

- So, who are you? - she asked with a smile, looking in. - Boy. Do you want me to set you free?

She looked into his eyes, and the dog, whining pitifully, reached out to her with his front paw.

“How smart you are, handsome,” she told him affectionately and pointed to the rope stretching to the tree. -You won't bite me if I untie you?

The dog lay down on the ground with a submissive look, looking at her with hope. The girl, perceiving this as a friendly sign, carefully raised her hand to him, watching for his reaction, ready to jump away at any moment. But he, raising his head, placing it under his fingers and caressing the girl, licked her hand.

“Well done,” Anika said also affectionately, taking another step closer.

The palm touched black wool, soft and silky to the touch. It would seem that such a large dog should have rough fur, but no. It somewhat resembled human hair. Anika had never seen anything like this before. She scratched him behind the ear, and the dog closed his eyes in pleasure.

- Who left you so beautiful here? - Anika asked, looking at the dog and around.

But not a single living soul was observed in the area.

“I know that I’m acting crazy, but I can’t leave you here,” she shared her judgment.

The dog, showing impatience, crawled closer to the girl, placing his neck with the rope under her hand. Stroking him more and more boldly, she reluctantly took her hand away from the wonderful fur, unmistakably catching the hint, and meeting his gaze, she saw a silent plea. Patting him by the scruff of the neck, Anika straightened up and approached the tree.

“Be patient, I’ll untie you now,” she began to untie the rope on the tree trunk.

But the attempt was unsuccessful: the rough rope was too tight. The strength of her fingers was not enough, and in her efforts she almost broke her nails on it. The dog watched her excitedly, shifting from paw to paw.

“What kind of strength do you have to have to get tied up like that,” the girl complained to the dog, after suffering for several minutes. - I can’t untie it. Then let's try it with you.

She turned to him and examined the rope around his neck. It turned out to be draped using the noose method: the tighter the dog pulled, the tighter it was tightened around his neck. This served as further proof for Anika that the unfortunate animal was left here to suffer, like a wild animal in a trap.

Carefully pulling the loop, she watched the dog, knowing that some people don’t like having their collar touched. In addition, there could be wounds under the rope. But the dog, wagging its tail, waited patiently while the girl dealt with her. After fumbling a little, she stretched the loop and, loosening it, began to pull it over her head. The rope bit into the dog’s throat, and he shook his head, whining indignantly. Anika tried to quickly free him and removed the noose.

“Well, that’s all,” she announced joyfully, pushing the dog aside to show that he was free.

The dog recoiled from her and shook his whole body, as if he had freed himself not from just one rope, but from a whole net. The girl, making sure that everything was all right with him, stepped aside, looking more closely. He was definitely much larger than any shepherd, resembling it only vaguely because of his pointed ears. The height at the withers is almost to the girl's waist, with high strong legs, a massive front part of the body and head. Powerful front and thinner hind legs, long thick coat.

Having received freedom, the dog spun on the spot and moved away from his liberator.

“Well, now you’re free,” Anika said, watching the dog move away, “and it’s time for me to go home.”

Pleased with her action, she waved goodbye to the departing dog and returned to the path, hurrying home. My soul felt somehow light and joyful from the good deed done. Today's attempt to shorten the path was not in vain, bringing salvation to a living creature. And everything would have ended with pleasant memories and sensations, if a few minutes later she had not noticed that the rescued dog was following her.

The dog purposefully followed her through the forest park, moving to the side among the trees.

“Hey,” she called out to him, “why are you following me?” Oh, well, go home. You may have been kidnapped, but now you are free. Go to the owner. Such a beautiful dog cannot be homeless.

The dog, lowering his head, stopped and warily looked up at the girl.

“Go, go,” she stamped her foot angrily, hoping to scare him away from her.

After standing for a minute, the dog turned to the side and disappeared behind the trees. Anika moved on, looking around, and not seeing him, she assumed that he had fallen behind. But later she noticed him again, following her.

- Why are you following me? – she said upset, looking at the dog peeking out from behind the tree. - Go home. Home.