Timothy: The Loyal Dog with a Secret

In May Street, there lived a family of four in a bungalow. John and his wife, Clara, and two children, Mia and Henry. One Saturday…..

“mom, can we adopt him?” Henry asked, as he looked at the dog, standing in front of him. “please mommy? And look, it also looks so pleading!” Mia added, as she patted the dog’s head. The dog was looking at them pleadingly. He used to stand outside their house, sometimes. Their mother nodded. she loved dogs, so they adopted it. soon, the dog became a part of their family. They named the dog timothy. Timothy never barked or bit anyone. Soon, a month passed like this. The kids’ parents decided to take the dog to a vet for vaccination, and a checkup. “doctor, we came for vaccination and checkup” John said. The doctor took out his stethoscope. He placed it on the dog. Timothy wagged his tail obediently and sat down. The doctor felt around. Suddenly, his face turned pale. He opened his mouth and shut it, blankly. He felt like he had swallowed all his words. “Doctor? Is there something wrong?” Clara asked. “n.. no.. nothing. The dog is completely fine” the doctor managed to speak in his regular voice. “are you sure? Then why were you so astonished?” john asked. “No, everything is fine” the doctor said. The family had no choice to believe it. timothy licked the doctor’s hand and went out with the family. “woof! Woof!” he said and wagged his tail. They drove back to May street. “mommy, mommy! Look! There is a parcel outside our house..” Henry told his mother as he ran towards their bungalow. Mia and timothy were running behind him. “who is this for? Hope its my new car!” Henry thought aloud as he picked the parcel. “maybe it’s my new doll!” Mia said teasingly. Henry kept the parcel on the bench and they started arguing what it was. Suddenly, they heard Timothy barking wildly. “WOOF! GR! WOOF!”. They turned around and saw timothy growling and barking at… the parcel! “Timothy? It’s a parcel! Now come in and don’t be silly! You know it has my new doll in it!” Mia said to Timothy, while glancing at grumpy Henry. The children and the dog trotted inside. Clara was surprised. She thought, that Timothy never used to bark at anyone. But why was he barking at a non living object, the parcel. She felt that weird, but she ignored it. “mom, my friend Kyle, and her brother Jack are coming in an hour” Mia yelled from inside her room. “Yes, play nicely” her mother replied. an hour rolled by, and the door bell rang. The children rushed out, with timothy just behind them. “Kyle!!!” Mia screamed as she ran to greet her friend. “Look! I got a  new rocket set!” Henry told Jack and dragged him in his bedroom. Timothy licked Kyle on her hand. “Aww! He is so cute!!…” Kyle exclaimed, as she patted Timothy. Soon, the children started playing while Clara baked cookies for them. “cookies are ready!” Clara called. Soon, everyone was seated on the table munching on cookies. The bell rang again. Mia opened the door. Timothy followed her. A delivery man was standing with a parcel in his hands. “GRRRR!” timothy suddenly growled at the man menacingly.  “Timothy? Stop growling!” Mia said while she patted his hair. He shook off her hand and started to bark. “WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!” the delivery man got frightened, and dropped the parcel on the ground and almost ran away. “Timothy, what’s wrong with you?” Henry asked the dog as he patted his golden fur. “you never used to bark at anyone. You scared that delivery guy out of his wits!” he continued. Timothy obediently sat down. “don’t do that again….” Mia mumbled as she thought that her mother might send him away if he scared anyone else. They played, and soon it was time for Kyle and jack to go home. “Bye! See you guys some other day!” Mia and Henry waved goodbye. “Timothy, what happened? We know you are not comfortable with that delivery guy, because you also barked at the parcel he delivered that day…what happened?” Mia and Henry asked Timothy, as they patted him before going to bed. Even Clara was suspicious. Why did the dog bark only and only at the delivery man? John tried to convince her that Timothy was just barking like how any other dog would. But of course, Clara couldn’t believe it. The sun rose and it was another morning in May street. Everyone was woken up by Timothy’s eager barking. “Woof! Woof!” He seemed to say, ‘good morning!’. “Mmmm!” Mia Yawned. “Miaaaa! Wake up! How long are you going to take?” Henry yelled from inside his room. The kids had planned to take Timothy for a walk in the park next street. “I’m ready. You?” Henry asked Mia as he entered her room. He was way too excited. Soon, they were walking on the pavement, with Timothy following them. “woof woof!” He said. They entered the park. There were many pet dogs too. “Henry, what if Timothy starts barking when he sees the other dogs?” Mia whispered to Henry. “We’ll give it a try..” Henry said. Right at that moment, a pet dog came, walking and wagging it’s tail. “Woof!” it said to Timothy. “Woof! Woof!” Timothy replied and the next second, the two dogs were running and playing around the park. “well, he didn’t sake off the whole park with his bark!” Henry replied, grinning. After some time, the children picked up timothy and then took him home.

They rang the doorbell and waited. Clara opened it. just as they closed the door, the bell rang again! Suddenly timothy started growling dangerously. The children got the hint and yelled to their mother, who was standing nearby “Mommy! The delivery guy! Mommy, help us drag Timothy away!!” their mother came rushing out. She held timothy by the collar. The bell rang again. Mia slowly opened the door. It was the same delivery guy. Then, Timothy started barking loudly. He growled and then he almost flew at the man! “TIMOTHYYYY!” Henry and Mia yelled. Suddenly, the delivery man took out a knife! “Timothyyy!” Henry yelled and pulled him with his collar. “STOP!” Clara yelled. The delivery guy sprinted away. Henry and Mia hugged Timothy. After few minutes, the family went to the police station. They told the police officers the whole incident. “Fine, thanks for informing. We will surely take care of it.” the police officer said to the family. They went and searched for the man. They found him running, from a little distance. They caught him, and took him to the police station. “is this the man?” the police officer asked. “Yes! Him!” Clara told the police. “its not my fault! It’s that mad dog of theirs, who was pouncing on me!” the delivery guy yelled. “NO, he doesn’t bark at anyone… why only you??” Clara yelled back. “STOP” the police officer said. “You had no rights to harm the animal” he continued. “I didn’t touch that dog!… he wa-” “Stop!” The police officer told him sternly. “you can go now. We’ll take care of him” the family went home. by the time the adventure was over, it was almost night. They went to bed. “timothy?” Mia yelled as she searched for him everywhere. She could not find him! Henry also helped her search, but they could not find timothy at all…. Their mother called their neighbors and asked them about timothy’s whereabouts. No one knew anything. She then called the doctor. “yes, mam? What happened?” the doctor asked. “timothy’s missing!” Clara said. “mam, actually, that day when I checked him,…” the doctor said hesitantly. “what happened?” Clara asked. “his heart wasn’t beating…” the doctor replied.