A large white dog lay in the roadside grass in a small Italian town, exposed to the scorching sun, and the passing of countless vehicles could not make it stand up.
Because it had been dead for some time. Beside the dead dog was a puppy.
It stared blankly ahead, remaining silent and still when strangers approached, only occasionally licking the big dog's body.
A resident who frequently passes by revealed that the big dog guarding the little dog is its mother.
Its mother had been lying there for three days, and during those three days, the puppy had not left its mother's side for even a moment, staying close to her.
At first, a kind person helped the puppy by using food to lure it away from the place, but after the puppy took a few steps, it looked back at its mother and then ran back.
The puppy can only look at the food; you can only leave the food there and let it eat it by itself.
But when he brought food the next day, he found that the puppy hadn't eaten any of the food he had put out and refused to come near him, even as the weather was getting hotter and hotter.
The large dog's body began to rot and smell bad. If the puppy wasn't taken away soon, its health would suffer, so they had to ask the police for help.
The police arrived and approached the puppy step by step, but the puppy did not react at all. It just stared blankly at the people with a helpless look in its eyes.
Perhaps because it hadn't eaten, the puppy was listless and didn't seem to pose any threat to people, so everyone disposed of its mother's body first.
But just as they were dealing with its mother's body, the puppy suddenly started barking. It began barking fiercely around them, trying to drive away those who touched its mother's body.
It used all its strength to protect its mother, a scene that touched the hearts of everyone present.
To prevent the puppy from seeing its mother's body, one of the police officers picked it up, wrapped it in a cloth, and took it away from the scene, only realizing something was wrong later.
The puppy began to struggle and bark, but it was weak and its emotions gradually stabilized with the help of the police.
When they took it to the veterinary hospital for examination, the puppy was only about two months old and was severely dehydrated. Everyone was shocked that such a young puppy would stay by its mother's side after she died.
It neither eats nor drinks, or perhaps in its perception, it believes that its mother will come back.
At the hospital, after the puppy underwent all the examinations, it quietly found a corner, lay down on the ground, closed its eyes, and fell asleep.
It looked like it hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time, and in the following days, the puppy's personality was not like that of other dogs.
It has lost its childlike playfulness and liveliness, and most of the time it stays in a corner by itself, quietly watching something, and sometimes it will hum and whine anxiously.
Judging from the puppy's various behaviors, the mother's death had a great impact on it, leaving a shadow over its life.
Perhaps it will fade away with time, or perhaps this shadow will follow it for life. Hopefully, it will find a loving owner who will give it attention and help it gradually emerge from the shadow.
