Ilona Králik
It was a cold, snowy winter day in December, Mark was walking home from work. He had to work overtime that day, so he came home later than usual. It was already dark outside when he arrived. As he was searching for the keys, he realised that there was a little puppy in front of his door. Mark could not really see it first, because the puppy was white and fluffy; he only noticed the big black eyes. Everyone knew that Mark did not really like animals; he had been living alone since his wife died three years ago.
He pulled the keys out of his pocket, pushed the little puppy away from the door, and went inside the warm house. He changed his clothes, watched the news on TV, and then started making dinner. He had just sat down at the table to eat his dinner when he noticed the puppy was still there. It was looking inside the house through the window of the door. Mark became very frustrated that the puppy did not leave. He started eating and did not care about the little dog.
By the time Mark finished eating and washed the dishes, it had started snowing again. He thought that it was probably very cold outside; he looked out the window and saw the puppy lying in front of the door. He opened the door for the puppy and gave him some food. He did not want to let him stay in the house after he finished eating, but he curled up in front of the fireplace and took a nap. Mark was thinking about letting him sleep in the house and putting him out the next morning when he left for work. It was late at night, so he went upstairs, took a shower, and got ready for bed. Before he fell asleep, he went downstairs to check on the puppy. He could not believe his eyes, and he got very angry; the puppy was jumping around on his white couch with his dirty paws and playing with Mark’s socks. He immediately put him outside and went back upstairs to sleep.
As he was lying in bed, Mark could only think about that little fluffy dog; he could not sleep at all. After lying in bed for an hour, he went outside, brought the dog inside, and gave him a bath. After he finished with the puppy, he went back and this time was actually able to fall asleep. The next morning, when he opened his eyes, Mark saw the big black eyes of the puppy, which was looking at Mark with a “smile” on his face. Mark was not mad that he had climbed up on the bed and slept with him; in fact he was quite happy. Since it was already time to go to work, he got ready, left, and let the puppy stay there.
On the way to work he could only think about the dog and how much happiness it had given him in just one night. The last time he felt like that was before his wife died. Most importantly, he did not feel lonely anymore. During the day he decided to keep the dog, and started searching for a name. Mark left work as early as possible and went home to his new dog. When he opened the front door, Snowball, the fluffy white puppy, was wagging his tail and was so happy to see his owner. Mark was happy to see him too; he even took Snowball on a walk. Mark’s neighbours were shocked when they saw him walking a dog, but Mark did not even notice them, since he only cared about that little puppy, Snowball. And that was the day he realised he was so wrong when he thought animals were bad.