A Dog in a Barrel

A little dog runs under the parching heat trying to avoid peoples' kicking legs. With its tail between its legs, it sneaks around the streets, which are full of people. It is trying to grab a piece of food that has fallen from a hawker. However, the hawker kicks it hard on its ribs and it flees whimpering away. The little dog's stomach is squeezed against its backbone and screams for food, any food. The little dog stops briefly and licks water that drips on dry ground. It has time to lick only a couple of drops before it has to flee again.

At night, the little dog is looking for food from the waste people have discarded. It smells many delicious scents, but cannot reach the source of the scent. Litterbins are too heavy to turn over and their covers too difficult to open. A truck stops and a man comes out. He kicks the dog and then picks up the litterbin and empties it on the truck's platform.

The dog follows the scents and reaches the place where the truck left the trashes. It notices that there are many dogs rummaging through the same litter. It sees how poor urchins look through the same litter in competition with dogs, wanting to find the tidbits before them.

The small dog catches a tasty treasure amongst the newly brought rubbish. It bites its teeth hard into it and runs away from the reach of others. At the border between light and darkness, there is an empty barrel lying on its side. The dog slips in and begins to gnaw its treasure. With its stomach full, it goes to sleep and wakes up only when the barrel is surrounded by sobbing children. The small dog pricks up its ears. It tries to decide if it should flee or stay.