It was his 16th birthday. Terry woke up at 10 am. As usual, he was alone. His mom went to work hours before he woke up, and would not come back until 10pm. Thinking his mom had already forgotten his big day, he saw a carton with a sleeping puppy inside placed on the ground with a note.
“I know many things have happened recently and it would be a hard time for us now. That way, I bought you this present to cheer you up. Hope you’d like it. Love, Mommy.”
It was a lovable, furry puppy which was white with brown spots and had small floppy ears. Terry held the puppy in front of his chest, and the puppy looked at him innocently. “What kind of puppy doesn’t have a leg? What’s the point of a sick dog? This sucks! I don’t want puppy. I don’t want anything! I HATE YOU!” He put the puppy aside rudely and went back to his bedroom with the door banged shut. Terry crouched at the corner behind the door and started crying. He remembered those days when his dad always stayed and played football with him. All these precious memories would never be relived. Never ever. His dad left his family in a sea of sorrow after the car accident. His dad was driving his family home when suddenly it lost control.
He was staring at the bookshelf while crying when a photo on top of the bookshelf heaved into sight. It was a photo when Terry and his football teammates won the Hong Kong interschool football competition and he was honored as the Best Football Player of the year. The trophy with a golden man model held by him in the photo was also put on his desk.
He recalled the moment when he was coldly insulted by his teammates.
“You’re useless now, go away.“
“What are you? A piece of trash?“
“Who are you to join us now? Please, look at yourself, huh.“
His acid-tongued teammates kept on teasing him. He could not imagine he lost almost everything after that. He was so desperate that he left school.
“How ironic,” he stared at the trophy with “the Best Football Player – Terry Richardson” written on it. “I am only a loser right now. “ Outraged by remembering how he was ridiculed, he threw the trophy onto the ground and a leg of the golden man broke and flew away.
“Bark! Bark!” The dog was barking fiercely. Terry thought it was hungry. Opening the door, He found the puppy enjoying itself with his football. The puppy continuously lost balance and fell onto the ground, which looked really stupid. But it wagged its tail and tried to invite Terry to play with it.
“You’re not like the other dogs…You can’t play. You’re only there for people to feel sorry for you. Don’t pretend you’re happy!“ He yelled at it.
It surely didn’t understand what he was saying. The puppy ignored his master and played on. POF! It fell again, but it stood up and played. POF! No matter how many times it fell, it would not stop.
A tear dropped on the floor.
Terry still had not forgotten the scenes of the accident, like it had just happened yesterday. His dad died in front of him. And how he regretted having sneered at his teammates the same way they treated him that day. Now he lost almost everything, but his aching heart still remained.
“See? You’re not like the others, you can’t even walk like a normal dog.“ Terry spoke in a hoarse voice and sobbed.
“It’s no use, right? You don’t care about your leg. You’re happy anyway…” The puppy looked at him in puzzlement with its tilting head, but then it barked loudly, and wiggled its tail.
Terry cuddled the puppy, went outside and played football with the puppy, with his only left leg.