Pluto

I saw him one evening when the sun was just setting. His lactating mother had died on the road side near my home after giving birth to seven puppies. He was the only surviving puppy. He was making tiny crying noises and was trying to suckle milk from his dead mother’s tits. People were walking past totally ignoring this tragic scene.
I had tears in my eyes on seeing him and to save his life, I brought him home. The next few days and nights were critical for the puppy’s life and luckily for me, it was a long weekend as Monday was also a bank holiday. I stayed awake that night, comforting him and also feeding him milk from time to time with the help of a spoon. I never had a dog before, so I had no idea how to take care of him and there was no one to guide me. But God was taking care of this little one and he survived in spite of my inexpert ministrations. My mother named him Pluto.
By Tuesday when I was leaving for office, I was certain that Pluto would survive this ordeal. My mother promised to take care of him when I went to office. I would miss Pluto terribly while I was away and would rush back as soon as possible. On seeing me, Pluto would totter on his four wobbly legs and try to jump on me and when I picked him up, he would lick me all over the face. I was the mother he never had while he was like my child. He loved me unconditionally. He did not care if I was beautiful, ugly, black or white. He did not care about my political views. He neither knew nor cared whether I was poor or rich. He just loved me for who I was. He would wait at the door when he knew I was coming home. He welcomed me in ecstasy by wiggling his butt every time and any time I came back home. He had a wonderful personality. He loved to lie upside down and smile. He was also a talented dog who could shake both paws, do high fives. He would even try to do yoga postures with me whenever I was practising yoga. I used to wake up in the morning and his would be the first face I would see after waking up.
He would want a bite of anything that I ate. One day, I was sitting at the dining table and Pluto was sitting quietly nearby watching intensely, with every hair on his body twitching! I was having a salad and knew he wouldn't eat any greens, but I had a mandarin orange in the salad, so I broke off a small piece of orange and tossed to him. I thought he had caught it and was eating it, but he kept sniffing around on the floor and whining. I wondered why he was doing that. Did he want more? I called him, and he looked up at me and there was the piece of mandarin orange stuck to the fur right above his nose! He could smell it, but he couldn't find it. I nearly fell out of the chair laughing.
He loved going for long walks with me. He also loved the festive seasons especially Christmas. When we put up the Christmas tree and decorated the tree with lights and ornaments and switched off the room light, he would stare entranced by the beautiful Christmas tree. When we got the Christmas turkey home, he thought it smelt delicious and my mother had to keep shooing him out of the kitchen. He loved sweets and just like a child he would beg for sweets.
Life would have continued on this happy note, but God had other plans for me. One day when the main door was open Pluto ran out and was run over by a truck. I was devastated and went into depression for months till my mother got me another puppy that looked very similar.
And can you guess what the name of my new dog is? You are right! It is Pluto.