Do you remember Angela?

The dark stairs, that was the first memory I had of her, she was about to be the best thing to ever happen to me but what a weird way to get introduced. I had done something bad to get mother angry so I ran away and hid outside on the staircase. For a boy who is scared of the dark, it sure took a lot of courage.

The moon wasn't bright, but it was enough to cast a bit of light to give me the least comfort amid the darkness. That was when I saw her, she must have been running from somewhere too, when our eyes met, I froze in fear, but this feeling was mutual seeing as she ran off in fear. This was our first encounter but it wouldn't be the last.

After hours of being stubborn, I went back in to suffer the consequences of my action but relates my story to everyone but no one believed me.

In case you are lost, Angela was the name of my first pet, a stray dog that became a member of the family.

Of course, as time went on we started seeing more of her footprints around the house but she was too scared to come out in the happen but would bark all night to ward intruders off. The theft was really common but no one would dare step into the compound.

We had to take precautions because we didn't know if she had rabies but the fear ended one day when a couple of boys came to fight with us in the compound over little street rivalry (I would explain but you might not get it hahaha). They had stuck with them and we were threatening to use violence, just then Angela came out for the first time running towards them causing them to run shelter skelter to safety, it was the first time we saw Angela in the open, immediately they ran away, she ran off to the backyard to go and hide.

She looked very lean which means she hadn't been eating well, yet she was ever faithful. We quickly made something warm for her to eat, she didn't trust us so she waited for us to leave before she came out of hiding to eat it. From the window, I could see how happy she was eating something nice. That was the day we named her "Angela".

We started giving her food every day, and soon she started to come out during the day but kept her distance. I guess her former master wasn't so nice to her. It took her months to fully trust again, she kept on with her duty of providing security to the compound.

Later, she got pregnant, I'm guessing for the first time, we were worried at first but after a while, we stopped seeing her around, we thought she had left again and I was so sad. We didn't see her for almost 2-weeks until one day, I was home alone and I heard puppies crying. I thought I heard wrong and then I heard it again. I sneaked gently to see where it came from, I saw these amazing puppies.

Close to the puppies was their mother, Angela. Keeping watch over her puppies. I came out to have a clear view, the puppies came towards me but the mother didn't look upset about it. I quickly made something for her to eat, she didn't look afraid of me, that was when the trust between Angela and me got forged.

My love for dogs started with her, I was very little then but I knew what love and loyalty felt like. Angela was family until her last moments. It broke my heart to see her go, but such is life. We didn't keep any of the puppies, Mom complained that she didn't have enough money to feed all of them and I didn't have the financial capabilities to take care of them.

The journey was an adventurous one, how we move from being strangers to family, how could I ever forget her name, never. Now that you've met her, she now lives in your memories too. There are a lot of stays out there just like Angela, all they need is love and care. Dogs are very loyal, they are indeed our best friends.

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