The rescue dog

Eight-year-old Sami Haroun lived in Defne, Turkey.  He had four siblings and was the youngest of the lot. His parents found it hard to make ends meet but what they lacked financially they made up for with a loving, happy atmosphere at home.

Sami wanted a dog for his birthday but was told that adopting a dog was out of the question when they could barely afford to feed themselves. So instead, Sami made friends with a stray dog hiding in the shadows of a narrow alleyway, on the road to his school. He named the dog Shadow. Sami used to save some scraps from his lunch box for Shadow, who emerged from his hideout to meet Sami everyday. 

Often Shadow would try to follow him home but Sami would hold up his hand and firmly say, “No. Stay!” and Shadow would sit down and obey, staring at him with doleful eyes while he walked away. Sami told his parents about his stray friend Shadow but they wouldn’t budge from their stance of ‘No dog’.

One day when Sami and his mum were returning from the market with bags laden with the week’s provisions, they decided to take a short-cut through a  dingy alleyway. Suddenly, a man stepped out from a dark recess, blocking their path. He threatened them with a knife, demanding money. Sami’s mum begged him to let them go, saying, “We have no money. We used it to buy these groceries”.  

Noticing a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye, Sami spied Shadow creeping up behind the thief. Shadow jumped on the thief, knocking him down and bit his knife-wielding arm. Yelling in pain, the accoster dropped his knife. Sami grabbed the knife with one hand and his mother’s arm with the other. Together they made a dash for their lives. 

Looking back, Sami saw Shadow bite the mugger’s leg so that he was unable to chase them. When they reached home, they found that Shadow had followed them.  Kneeling down, Sami hugged Shadow who promptly licked his face.

“Please can he stay with us now, Mamma? After all, he did save our lives. I’m sure he’d be a great watch dog too”, Sami pleaded.  Shadow lay down with his head between his outstretched paws and looked imploringly at Sami’s mum.  Mamma didn’t have the heart to say no to Sami yet again and so Shadow was allowed to stay. 

True to his name, Shadow followed Sami everywhere.  Soon he won over the rest of the family too, with his endearing ways.

One day, whilst the kids were at school, Shadow became very agitated.  He kept barking and running to the door. Mamma let him out thinking he wanted to relieve himself. 

About 10 minutes later, she heard strange rumbles and looked out of the window but there were no clouds in the sky. Suddenly she felt the ground under her tremble and move. Utensils started falling off shelves, furniture slid across the floor. Mamma rushed out of the house.  There was no sign of Shadow.  

She ran towards the children’s school. On reaching the site, she stared aghast at the huge mound of rubble where the school had once stood.  The building had collapsed. Many children were buried under the rubble. Screams and calls for help filled the air. People were coughing and choking on the dust. 

Mamma rushed around searching for her children, frantically calling out their names. Suddenly she heard a familiar bark and saw Shadow coming towards her, covered in dust. Tugging at her long skirt, he led her to a spot where she heard a faint voice calling for help.  Although it was a mere croak, she recognised Sami’s voice.

There was a small hole in the pile of rubble which Shadow kept pawing at, trying to widen it. Sami was trapped under the debris but could see Shadow and knew help was at hand. Slowly Shadow enlarged the hole enough for Sami to stick out his hand. Mamma caught hold of some people who came with shovels and dug him out. 

Scooping Sami into her arms Mamma showered him with kisses whilst Shadow pranced around them.  Luckily Sami was not hurt badly, just some cuts and bruises. 

Then, one by one, Shadow sniffed out Sami’s sister Alia and brothers Hamid, Hanif and Ali, leading the rescue workers to them. It was as if Shadow was thankful to the family for rescuing him and now it was his turn to rescue them.

Hamid had a broken arm and Ali’s ankle was sprained, but all in all the family was grateful to have survived the earthquake. Exhausted, they returned home.

The next day, Shadow and the Haroun family returned to help rescue workers. Shadow did such a great job sniffing out survivors that he earned himself the name ‘The Rescue Dog’.