Lost and Found (part 1)

Our story began a year ago. August 2023.

School had just started with new faces excited to start the new year. Of all the new faces, two brown, skinny ones with wounds and a pair of frightened eyes stood out among them. Each morning, I watched one sleep by the flag pole, while the other slept by the guard's table. Taking pity on them, I started feeding them with the plain bread I brought from home. They were so hungry, they'd finish the bread in seconds.

I guess the pups realized I never meant them any harm, so I quickly earned their trust. I started bringing them dog food. And, after a few weeks, they began showing up in my classroom, much to my students amusement. We'd find them sleeping near my table or behind the doors. Sometimes, they'd just show up in the middle of my lesson, wagging their skinny, almost hairless tails, waiting for me to offer them food. Until, after a few more weeks, the pups learned our schedule.

At 6 o'clock in the evening, when all my classes are done, they would wait for me by my office as I prepare their meal. That became our routine. Everyone started to notice and they even started to call the pups, my "babies". For about three months, that became our bonding and feeding routine.

That was also when I started to notice their wounds getting worse and their hair disappearing more and more. I badly wanted to take them to the vet but at that time I barely had money left for extra expenses because I was also working on my thesis. While I contemplated what to do with them, I bought a topical wound spray that helped ease the worsening of their wounds at least for a while.

Around October, one of the guards approached me. Like I said, they knew how close the pups had gotten to me. They informed me that someone from the higher ups commanded them to remove the pups from the premises as they were starting to become a nuisance, being in the classrooms and all. He, the guard, was hoping I could do something. That was when I finally decided to take them home, money or no money. I would not let them be taken away to an empty lot and left there with nothing (that's a common "solution" for many strays around here).

The past few months, working on my thesis left me emotionally and mentally drained. I barely had the energy to get out of bed, let alone show up at work. But thinking of the two pups waiting for me gave me the motivation I needed to get up and go to school. They became my true reason to keep going to school. Our evening feeding time was something I looked forward to. They indeed became my babies. They even started responding to the names I gave them--Milo (the bigger pup) and Hershey.

So imagining them being forcibly taken away and left at an empty lot with nothing and no one; the fear of being abandoned traumatizing them again, I will never be able to live with myself if I allowed that to happen.

Hence, I asked the guards to give me two weeks tops so I can prepare my house for the pups.

That didn't happen, though.

The two weeks I asked from the guards, I attended a seminar and it was also our semestral break. I did not really had much time to visit Milo and Hershey in school.

When I returned, the pups were gone. I called out for them. I circled the school grounds. Nothing. I asked the guards. I asked the students. The students asked around, too. Nothing.

I was distraught. What happened to my pups? Why hadn't I taken them in sooner? Where are they now? Are they even alive?

For days, these questions plagued my mind. Questions with no answers. Tears shed every night as I waited for their return. Nothing.

I lost Milo and Hershey. And I hated myself for it.