The Dog's Eyes

image from: https://www.kabulsmallanimalrescue.com

All the dogs in the streets knew Zamari. And they knew he did not like dogs because he always threw stones. When they saw him coming they would whine, put their tails down and run away to hide.

“Look, child!” his mom and dad told him many times. “Dogs are made by God too. It is wrong to hurt them and God doesn’t like it.”

Zamari was in fifth grade but almost every day he threw stones or, if he found a sleeping dog, he would kick to wake it up.

“One day, an angry dog will definitely bite you!” other boys tried to stop him.

But he didn’t care about their words at all.

One day, Zamari and his little brother were going to the park to play. On the way, they saw a dog beside a broken wall. She was lying on the ground feeding small puppies.

“Look, Tutu!” the little brother said,

Zamari picked up a stone but his little brother shouted.

“Don’t hit her, the puppies are so sweet!”

The dog opened its mouth and looked at him with sad eyes. The stone slipped from Zamari’s hand and the memory of the sad eyes stayed in his mind.

That night, Zamari had a dream. He and his brother were walking to the park. The dog and her hungry puppies were trailing behind and Zamari picked up a stone so he could hear the sound of the dog yelping. But before he could throw, the tiniest puppy ran up and licked his brother.

“Oh no, the dog is eating you!” Zamari screamed and woke up sweating from his dream.

Next to him, his little brother was still sleeping and Zamari could see he was wearing a blue shirt with a picture of a puppy. He woke his brother and gave him a tight hug.

That evening, when they went to the park, Zamarai and his brother carried pieces of bread in their hands. The dogs tried to run away thinking they would be hit by stones but, when the puppies saw bread, they ran forward to eat.

This time, when the mother dog looked at Zamari, her eyes seemed to say:

“Thank you.”

Original Pashto: