A Visitor in the Garden

Ben was a quiet man. He lived alone in a small house with a garden, and he liked it that way. Every weekend was the same: coffee, the newspaper, some gardening and an early night.

One Saturday morning, he opened the back door and saw a dog in his garden. It was big and brown, with one white ear. It was sitting on his vegetables.

“Hey! Get off my tomatoes!” Ben shouted. The dog looked at him and wagged its tail happily, but it didn't go anywhere.

The dog had a collar with a name on it: Biscuit. There was also a phone number. Ben called it, but nobody answered.

“OK, Biscuit,” he said. “You can stay here until your owner calls back. But don't touch anything.”

Biscuit followed Ben everywhere. When Ben read the newspaper, Biscuit sat on his feet. When Ben worked in the garden, Biscuit dug holes next to him. Ben was annoyed at first, but then he started to laugh.

In the afternoon they went for a walk in the park. Ben talked to more people that day than in the whole month before. Everybody wanted to say hello to Biscuit.

In the evening, Ben's phone rang. It was a young woman called Sara. She lived three streets away. “I'm so sorry!” she said. “Biscuit always runs away when I'm not home.”

Twenty minutes later, Sara came to the door. Biscuit was happy to see her, but he looked back at Ben sadly when they left.

Ben's house was very quiet that night. Too quiet.

The next Saturday, there was a knock at the door. It was Sara and Biscuit. “He wants to go to the park,” Sara said with a smile. “Would you like to come with us?”

Ben took his jacket. “I'd love to,” he said.