“It’s going to be okay”, she thought, trying to comfort herself as she sat down in the corner of the room. But as soon as she did, she stood up and began to pace up and down again. “He’s been gone too long.” With every passing minute, her worry began to grow. It was already midnight and he wasn’t home yet.
He had been coming home late for the past few nights. She would stay up for him, have dinner and then go to bed. But today, he was later than usual. “I’m sure I’m worrying needlessly”, she thought, as she tried to sit comfortably again. But who was she kidding? She couldn’t convince herself. Besides, her worry wasn’t unreasonable; the city wasn’t too safe, especially at this time of the night. Thieves, murderers, goons – they all lurked the streets. She had seen them so many times; and if that wasn’t enough - road accidents. She had witnessed so many of them from her room.
1 am
She opened her eyes. Trying to fall asleep was useless. She could hear her heart beat. She could feel the blood flow through her veins. “Why isn’t he home yet?” she thought, “Did something happen to him? Oh no! Maybe something did happen to him. Maybe he met with an accident. Maybe he’s in the hospital or worse yet, maybe he’s gone…No! No, it can’t be true. But what if it is? What am I going to do if he’s really gone? I can’t live without him. No! No, I can’t”. She began to weep.
2 am
She lay on the floor, still weeping. She loved him so much. She prayed he was safe; somewhere, somehow. She thought about all the days she spent with him since they met a year ago. She knew he loved her too. She thought about the good times and the bad. She thought about the times he had held her, or played with her hair. She thought about the nights when he had hit her, cursed her, abused her and sometimes, even flung her across the room. But it didn’t matter anymore; she knew he had loved her, and now he was gone…
3am
The door opened; it was him. She looked at him, overjoyed, ran towards him and hugged him.
He pushed her away; he was drunk. She knew something was wrong; she could see that he had been crying.
She followed him as he walked into his room and sat beside him. Gently placing her head on his lap, she asked him what was wrong.
“She left me…she left me for someone else”, he said, as he began to cry again.She stared into his eyes; she couldn’t bear to see him upset. She did the only thing she could do that would probably cheer him up.
She hugged him again; and wagging her tail, she licked his face.
“It’s going to be okay”, she thought; and this time, she wasn’t trying to comfort herself…
