Huli was just a puppy, but she knew something was terribly wrong with her. Huli’s head hurt, her stomach hurt, her skin hurt, but her leg hurt most of all.
She lived all alone in the park. She was filthy, sad, hungry, and weak, lying with her eyes closed. Suddenly she heard a noise and felt someone close to her. Huli opened her eyes to see a friendly and concerned face, so she slowly wagged her tail the best she could.
The friendly face was close to her so Huli did her best to stand and look presentable, hoping for food. But she was too weak and sick to stand very long. and soon she plopped back down.
This beautiful, friendly face stayed with Huli until she fell asleep again. When she woke up, the person was putting her in a car. She was glad to be out of the park, but it hurt so much to be bumped and jostled around. She tried to get comfortable, but the movement of the car, the feel of the seat and the strangeness of it all were too much. She just closed her eyes and endured the pain.
The friendly face took Huli to a kindly veterinarian who helped puppies like her. She was given water and special food. Even though it hurt her stomach, she was glad to have it. Someone gentle gave her a bath, some pills, and an x-ray to find out what was wrong. She tried to think about her mother and the good times “before” but the memory of “before” was fading. The doctor said her sore leg had been badly broken around five weeks before. Huli was only five months old, so that leg had hurt a lot for most of her young life.
