Hogar

It was a rather chilly night, around 2:00 a.m. Hogar, with pleading eyes, brought me his leash. Our neighborhood was quite quiet, so I took him for a walk. I walked him around the block for a while, but I was terribly cold. Hogar broke free from my leash and ran toward the cage. I turned to call out to him… I saw a rather tall man dressed entirely in black walking toward me. I got a little scared, because not many people were out at that hour. Not only was I shivering from the cold, but I was also terrified. I started walking faster… The unfamiliar figure quickened his pace. Everything became very strange. I called out to Hogar.

"Hogar!! Hooogar!!

I mentally begged him to come running. But… nothing. I ran to the cage, but another man was sitting underneath, holding a bottle of vodka and smoking a cigarette. He heard me running, turned away, but after a moment, he started drinking again. I thought I'd lost this guy, and now I was afraid to go looking for my dog. But you know... I had to. I kept whistling until my cheeks hurt. (Hogar, little dog, I'm begging you, come to the lady). I circled the entire block, but he seemed to have melted into the earth. Every time I called him, he'd come running immediately. I thought about going for Dad. I'd wake him up and we'd look for Hogar together. Just as I was heading back to the stairwell, a guy in black clothes emerged from behind the building. My heart stopped. I started running. He was following me again. I barely opened the door because my hands were shaking so badly. I ran into the stairwell and there...

"Hogar, little dog!! Thank God!

" At that moment, I heard the door open. I froze again, but I was less afraid now; I had a dog... but... I lived on the 13th floor. As if to spite him, the elevator was coming from the very top. I leaned out onto the stairs and saw a tall man in a black jacket and pants, his back turned. I didn't want to make any noise… maybe he didn't even know I was there. I decided to be quiet. Suddenly, my eyes were the size of watermelons, my heart was pounding like it was about to burst out, my legs felt weak…

"Weronika!! Weronika, wait!!

I was more scared than I'd ever been in my life, but something pushed me into the hallway… I couldn't breathe.

It turned out the man in black was my neighbor's son, who has a sore throat and can't scream. He wanted to give me my cell phone, which had fallen out of my pocket…