... a cold Saturday
morning, over a tea conclave, Appa noticed the advertisement in Kölner
Stadt Anzeiger:
 We ignored
it. But, Appa had decided to call the number and go for it!
The intention was to get the St. Bernard dog as
a birthday gift for Amma. This, Appa did. And none of us knew about
it. Until 17th January, when we returned
from school. It was about 14h30h in the noon. Radhika & I were in my room,
waiting for lunch, while we were playing with our rabbits Appu & Amini.
The
door bell rang & we were expecting Appa to come home for lunch. Then
Amma with an excited voice called out for us, saying: “Look who has
come !” Both
of us left the rabbits playing in my room and rushed up to see who had arrived.
There was a friendly German gentleman looking very much like he spent a lot
of time with animals. The front door was open we all stood there & the
man called out: “Na komm schon Ben, schau mal ob es dir hier gefällt!” A
huge chocolate brown St Bernhard, like we had only seen in Hollywood Movies
jumped out with full energy and came running into our house with his ears
flapping while
he was running. He was wagging his tail with full joy and sniffed us all!
He was the most perfect St. Benhard I ever saw. Shiny brown, with a white
blaze
on his neck and hip, and white paws. And so huge. It was love at first sight.
His
eyes were full of curiosity. |
We
instantly fell in love with him.
He directly walked into
the living room wildly exploring his new home. His eyes were
fixed on the sight of the garden. His wish
, we realized, was to run around & play outside in the snow
filled garden. So, his owner opened the door to the garden and
off Ben went,
chasing all the hens and wild rabbits. 
His master told us that he was a very loving animal
and that he also adored small children. Finally Appa came home with
a guest, you could see the sparkling eyes Appa had at the sight of
this beautiful dog, Ben immediately came running into the house and
let my dad caress him, he knew that my dad was going to be his best
friend.
Ben went all around the house dragging in all the
autumn leaves and snow with him while he was wagging his huge beautiful
while tail. He especially loved entering the kitchen. As he was on
his way to my room, I quickly placed the rabbits in their cage fearing
that he might, out of instinct, harm them. But, he immediately realized
that they we also our friends and just with a lot of curiosity gazed
at them. |
When his owner was about to leave he whispered “Goodbye” into
Bens ears and with tears in his eyes, but at the same time feeling
happy that he found a nice home for Ben, he left. Ben not only
walked into our home with large mud paw prints but also into our
lives and found himself a special place in our hearts!
|
