The restaurant was expensive, and the cooks were excellent. Its reputation was long established, so there was always a line, and tables had to be reserved a week in advance.
Her salary was small. She was “stuck on salads” – a phrase used for those trusted with only one thing: making salads.
So she took on extra work doing cleaning. After work, when everyone left, she stayed behind to take out the trash and scraps, sweep, and mop the floors. They paid a little extra, and altogether it wasn’t too bad.
That’s how she became acquainted with the company of cats and dogs that patiently waited all day for her to show up at night with the leftovers.
Feeding them was strictly forbidden. The management explained that doing so would only encourage rats and mice. But try explaining that to starving eyes that look at you with pleading and hope…
So she found a way not to offend the cats and dogs, and to avoid getting caught – she would set aside food for them separately and sit and wait until they ate. Then she would dispose of the remains in large green bins with lids.
Then she saw her—a large, dirty German Shepherd. Not being well versed in breeds, she might have been mistaken, but that hardly mattered; something else caught her attention.
The dog would select pieces but never eat anything. It would collect them, grab them with its teeth, and run off somewhere…
After a few weeks, curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to follow the dog, especially since she had more than enough time.
While the other cats and dogs bickered as they ate, she followed the German Shepherd as it headed toward a remote corner of the park.
The park was located very close to the restaurant. It had a central avenue, always generously lit at night. Under the streetlights, there were benches and even a few small tables with metal seats.
Near one such table, the dog stopped.
At the table sat a man, clearly homeless. His disheveled hair and beard, along with his old, tattered jacket, were easily visible in the streetlight.
The German Shepherd stood on its hind legs and placed her catch on the table.
“My Fish,” said the delighted homeless man. “My Fish, what would I do without you? You are my feeder!”
The man embraced the dog and kissed her on the nose. Fish licked his face and whimpered happily.
“Sit across from me, Fish,” the man continued. “Let’s have a snack.”
The dog climbed onto the opposite seat, and the man began dividing the treat she had brought. After eating, they went on…
The woman couldn’t resist following them. The park was empty, and she had to hide behind the trees growing along the central avenue.
Arriving at the far corner of the park, the man and the dog stopped. There were thickets of bushes there.
“We have until five in the morning, you and I,” the homeless man said to Fish. “After that, the cleaners and the runners will come, and we need to clear out before they arrive…”
He pulled several cardboard boxes out of the bushes. Laying them on the ground, he retrieved from them an old, torn sleeping bag and two blankets.
He himself lay down in the sleeping bag, set atop the boxes. Then he spread one of the blankets, on which Fish lay down, and with the other he covered his feeder.
They lay face to face, and Fish began licking her man’s face. The woman even thought that she was singing him some kind of canine lullaby—it was howling softly, in an affectionate way.
And that reminded the woman of her childhood, of how her mother used to sing her a lullaby at night…
The homeless man embraced his companion, and they fell asleep, while the woman walked back through the deserted park, barely noticing the streetlights. Tears welled in her eyes.
She didn’t know what had happened to him or why he had ended up on the street—and it wasn’t her place to judge. All she could see was the sight of Fish feeding her man.
She herself wouldn’t eat; she would bring food to him and wait for him to share. And then she sang him a lullaby…
From then on, at night, she fed Fish separately. She gave her large pieces of meat left over after closing and buns. She would put it all in a bag and say:
“Here, little Fish. Take it to your man.”
Fish happily yelped and licked her hands.
Two weeks later, when she took out the waste and trash after the restaurant had closed, the homeless man was waiting for her with Fish:
“I just wanted to thank you,” he said, and, carefully approaching her, took her right hand in both of his and, leaning low, kissed her fingers.
She blushed and pulled her hand away.
“Oh, no!” she said. “Please, don’t. It doesn’t cost me anything. Just come and take it yourself. I’ll give it to you, and I’ll even gather some for your Fish…”
The homeless man bowed and thanked her.
And so it went. She would gather good pieces from the leftovers, porridge, and bread for them. But one day…
One day, he didn’t come. And after a few days, she began to worry. Fish also didn’t come, and then when she did, she wouldn’t take the food. She stood by the woman, whimpering plaintively.
Something had happened, the woman decided, and she went after the dog to the far corner of the park. There, the homeless man lay in his sleeping bag, shivering with chills.
“N-nothing’s wrong…” he tried to say. But his teeth were chattering so much that she could barely understand him. “Everything will be alright soon…” he assured her. “I just need to lie down and rest…”
She felt his forehead—it was burning.
An ambulance took the man away. And she took Fish home, even though the dog whined plaintively and kept trying to dash after the car that had taken her man.
Somehow managing to explain to the dog that her master would be healed and returned, the woman managed to take her home, yet one thought would not let her rest.
Where would the homeless man go once he was discharged? She herself rented a tiny room with a single bed, and there was no room for one more person.
Then she sat at her table, turned on a lamp, fixed her hair, and recorded the entire story on her phone’s camera. Without expecting anything, she uploaded it to the internet. After that, she went to sleep…
That night, she had to get up several times—Fish would jump up in the dark and howl anxiously. She was searching for her man. And the woman comforted the dog, promising her that everything would be alright.
In the morning, utterly sleep-deprived, she agreed with Fish that the dog would wait for her at home, and that in the evening they would go together to visit her man.
She worked the whole day, as always, tirelessly. Only a couple of times did she manage to take a break for a smoke and a sandwich.
Just before closing, the headwaiter entered the kitchen and, with a tone of surprise, called her name.
“This is very strange,” he said. “But there are people standing right in the middle of the dining room, and they are asking for you…”
“Me?!” the woman exclaimed in astonishment, wiping her hands and smoothing her hair.
She went out to the dining room, trying to recall what she might have done to be sought after.
There were about ten people standing in the middle of the room. When they saw her, they suddenly became animated and burst into applause. The entire dining room fell silent and turned towards her.
Blushing and embarrassed, she asked what was going on. And then each of them took out their phone, and to her amazement, she saw her little video pleading for help.
The restaurant patrons immediately pulled out their phones and began searching for that video.
She had to change clothes and go to the hospital with the people waiting for her. Among them were kind souls, representatives from social services, and a well-known blogger who was simply filming everything with her small video camera.
The homeless man, who had started to feel a bit better, was very surprised by such a visit. He wasn’t used to human attention and felt very embarrassed…
After returning to the restaurant, the woman learned that she was being asked to see the owner, who had, for unknown reasons, come that evening.
Deeply upset and assuming that she would be fired immediately, she braced herself for the worst, but…
The owner was smiling broadly and shook her hand:
“Thank you! Thank you very much!” he said, leaving her perplexed. “What, you don’t know?” he exclaimed. “We became famous thanks to you. We help homeless animals and people!”
Then he sat on a chair and looked at her seriously:
“I cannot fire you, no matter how much I might want to. Besides, you no longer work in the kitchen. You are now the shift headwaiter, with an additional duty, damn it… We’ll organize a kitchen for feeding homeless animals and people. And just try to mess up this endeavor! Our reservations are booked six months in advance, and everyone leaves money with a request to feed the homeless. For some reason, people find it easier to leave money for others than to do it themselves, but… what can you do.
Is that acceptable?”
She could only manage to nod…
The homeless man and the dog were settled into social housing. She visits them regularly. He shaved, got a haircut, changed his clothes, and found a job.
Fish always waits eagerly for the woman and is always happy to see her.
There’s plenty of work at the restaurant and the canteen for the homeless. Escaping from it is a real challenge.
The owner smiles at her, but she can’t tell whether he’s truly happy. Her salary is now more than decent.
Sometimes, on weekends, she, Tom, and his Fish take walks in the park and talk about life. Tom assures her that she is his bright Angel, and that everything happened only because of her kind heart.
And she assures him that his bright Angel is the dog, Fish. Without her, none of this would have happened.
And the German Shepherd Fish couldn’t care less about all their discussions. She walks alongside them and smiles. She already knows—soon they will have a little one, and Fish imagines how she will play with him.
So, what was I saying? Ah, yes. Exactly.
So, what must happen for people to want to help? A video on the internet? Is that indispensable?
Where did we go wrong?
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