Noah by Serhii Bezverkhov

His name was Noah,

and he was a stranger in this world. Usually, just the sight of such men makes you feel somehow uneasy. Even his presence created a heavy atmosphere that at times seemed to bring everyone down. So people avoided him as much as possible and he wasn't welcomed anywhere. He never wore bright clothes, only black, baggy, and rather worn-out clothes. His eyes always conveyed incredible fatigue and irritation, and his thin lips were constantly twisted as if he wanted to grab any passerby and scream out all his grudges to life. This whole image was also reinforced by his abnormally thin body, which rather resembled a corpse.

His house was also never visited by any kind of guests. The yard looked like a thicket, and the house was like a hut, so children often made up myths about him, teased him and threw food at his bedroom windows. However, all he did was silently let the dog off the leash. Interestingly, the dog's kennel was always perfect, and its fur was perfectly groomed. And one evening it became clear.

I was just returning from extra French lessons, and I lived a few houses away from Noah. The sky was extraordinarily beautiful then, it seemed as if the entire planet had entered another dimension. However, that evening was not so beautiful for everyone. As I passed Noah's house, I noticed him sitting near the dog's house. I froze because it was the first time in my life that I had seen him like that. He was breathing in a panic, or rather, he was choking, his hands were shaking no less than his body. I can't explain what exactly was driving me at that moment, but it must have been the common human kindness that is sometimes so lacking in modern society. I went closer to ask if he needed help and saw the dog convulsing. Most likely, someone from the locals poisoned the dog to get back at Noah for scaring the children for their “innocent” mischief. I quickly knelt closer to the animal to see what was going on, which brought Noah to his senses, as he hadn't expected anyone to pay attention to him. I said only one phrase to him, "To the doctor," after which I took his dog in my arms and asked if he was going to do anything for his pet or if he was going to keep staring at one point.

We got into his old pickup truck and drove as fast as we could to the clinic. On the way, I could see tears streaming down Noah's cheeks. He wasn't very talkative, but he mentioned that this dog was the only thing he valued in his life. And he didn't say it with irritation or sarcasm. In those words, you could feel how lonely this man was, and this loneliness had been eating away at him for years. And that's why the love of an animal meant so much to him. It was the only creature in the world that didn't turn away from him. Eventually, the dog recovered. We arrived just in time, as the doctors said that time was already running out in a matter of hours. After that Noah was still as grumpy as ever. But he would greet me with a small smile every time we met. I guess, he must have felt that I understood that loneliness had made him such a stranger in this world, but somewhere deep in his heart there was always a thirst for unconditional love and warmth.