2,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: Tektime
- Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
- Sprache: Englisch
Leo is a police dog, a mongrel with a passion for Looney Tunes. He always wanted to have hands in order to manage the remote control of the TV and the refrigerator, but when his boss Steve is killed in an ambush, his desire becomes a real thing because his hands are the only means that will allow him to unveil the killer and obtain justice. From then on he will be involved in a spiral of adventures during which he will ”borrow” the hands of other characters met along a tortuous journey that will bring him from time to time closer to the killer, to the finale ”face to face”.
Leo is an atypical police dog, a mongrel with a passion for cartoons. Since he was a puppy, he always wished having hands; he believes that these will make his life easier and more enjoyable. His life flows smoothly until his partner Steve, an agent of the Task Force, is killed in an ambush by a corrupt colleague in an abandoned shed. During the ambush, the recorder Steve had brought to unveil the killer falls into a crack in the floor. Leo knows that that object is very important, but he is unable to retrieve it because he has no hands. During Steve's funeral, Leo recognizes the killer and attacks him to kill him. The Commander of the Police Headquarters believes the dog is mad with anger and sorrow, so he sends it to the veterinarian so that he can put him down. The veterinarian, however, instead of doing his duty, sells him to a laboratory where are doing animal experimentations. There, Leo befriends with Giotto, a chimpanzee who loves to paint and knows how to gesture. The two are aware that at the end of the experiments, the laboratory director will ”get rid” of all the tests. So they design and implement the escape. Leo now has the hands of his new friend to retrieve the recorder, though to win his reticence he has to tell him a little lie. After the daring escape, a good dinner and a little ”binge” during which they trust each other, the two go to the crime scene. Soon after they enter the courtyard, however, the killer also comes in the company of an accomplice: they are also looking for the recorder.
The killer wounds Leo and retrieves the precious object, Giotto scares frightened. Leo manages to escape and is picked up by Italo, a lousy private investigator; while escaping by car the killer sees them and writes down the license plate number. Italo takes care of Leo, who during the convalescence attempts to blossom the love between him and Stefania, his next door neighbor, and to befriends with Barbie, her dog. Barbie first ignores him, but when Leo saves her from a Dobermann, she falls in love. Meanwhile, Leo has also to deal with Puffi, a very cunning and mischievous Persian cat. Just in the middle of a romantic dinner, a phone call makes Italo go away for a job interview and Leo goes with him. But in reality this is a trap organized by the assassin, who has messed with Italo's car brakes. The two go off a cliff and Leo wakes up at the hospital, where he finds out that his body is dead and that, who knows how, he's in the body of Italo, who has disappeared. This new situation frightens him, but after he has recovered, he immediately finds the positive side: now that he is a man, he can finally give a good lesson to Puffi, and especially he can try to unveil his enemy. But being men is not easy and Leo encounters several issues, such as the relationship with Stefania, who now finds him strange, and that with Barbie, who has recognized him and accuses him of treason. He also has to learn how to talk and wash, dress and go shopping, get money and do all that other men do. Resigned to stay forever in that situation, Leo is pondering on what to do when suddenly the ghost of Italo appears claiming his body. Leo tells him how things are and tells him about the corrupt policeman, the ambush to Steve and all the rest. Italo tells Leo that for a mistake he has ended up in the paradise of dogs in his place and describes it, invoking him so to restore his body. The two are determined to stop the killer, and then, even if they do not yet know what they will do, Leo will return the body to Italo and leave happy to paradise. Meanwhile, Italo prohibits Leo from having any kind of relationship with Stefania, because he is jealous even if the two fail to declare their mutual interest. Leo would rather help him, giving Stefania the much-desired kiss that Italo has never found the courage to give her. He is convinced that in this way a love would break out and that Italo could enjoy it once he leaves. The two begin to investigate t
PUBLISHER: TEKTIME
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Seitenzahl: 262
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018
Ähnliche
Andrea Lepri
Leo’s hands
Translated by Eva Melisa Mastroianni
Original title
Le mani di Leo
First Edition – November 2012
0111 edizioni – www.0111edizioni.it
English Edition – October 2018
Publisher «Tektime» – www.traduzionelibri.it
The novel is the fruit of the author's imagination. Every connection with concrete facts or people is completely random.
All rights reserved
INDEX OF CHAPTERS
Chapter 1Leo watches the TV
Chapter 2The disappointing affair
Chapter 3The contact
Chapter 4At the warehouse
Chapter 5The situation goes south
Chapter 6Steve’s death
Chapter 7The release
Chapter 8At the funeral
Chapter 9The attack on the Boogeyman
Chapter 10At the vet
Chapter 11At the lab
Chapter 12The plan
Chapter 13The escape planning
Chapter 14Giotto’s escape
Chapter 15The liberation
Chapter 16The van
Chapter 17Finally free
Chapter 18At the farm
Chapter 19The melancholic binge
Chapter 20Giotto philosopher
Chapter 21The thinking
Chapter 22The confessions
Chapter 23At the warehouse
Chapter 24In the warehouse
Chapter 25The walkman
Chapter 26Giotto the hero
Chapter 27The history repeats itself
Chapter 28The rescue
Chapter 29The operation
Chapter 30The new life
Chapter 31The neighbours
Chapter 32Barbie and the Doberman
Chapter 33The Doberman and I
Chapter 34The confession
Chapter 35Stefania’s visit
Chapter 36Smurf’s games
Chapter 37The declaration
Chapter 38The calling for help
Chapter 39The romantic dinner
Chapter 40The attack
Chapter 41The awakening
Chapter 42How Leo died
Chapter 43Stefania arrives
Chapter 44The police
Chapter 45At home again
Chapter 46Stefania again
Chapter 47Learning quickly
Chapter 48My first day as a man
Chapter 49The first time outside
Chapter 50The shopping
Chapter 51My funeral
Chapter 52Italo’s ghost
Chapter 53The paradise of dogs
Chapter 54I want my body back!
Chapter 55The deal
Chapter 56The fight
Chapter 57The dinner invitation
Chapter 58In the parking lot
Chapter 59At the Police Station
Chapter 60The preparation to the dinner
Chapter 61The trap
Chapter 62The book about ghosts
Chapter 63At dinner at Stefania’s
Chapter 64After dinner
Chapter 65The doubts and the temptation
Chapter 66Victory!
Chapter 67The following day
Chapter 68The final fight
Chapter 69Plot twist!
Chapter 70The magic spells!
Chapter 71The monsters arrive
Chapter 72Budgets time
Chapter 73The returning
Chapter 74“Took you long enough”
Chapter 1
Leo watches the TV
It was pitch black outside, the bells of the church rang for a long time and the nice smell of something to eat came from under the entrance door. The neighbours had just started to fight and break the plates like every night, that was the clear signal that the Looney Tunes were about to start! I ran to the couch to get comfortable hoping that they would show Puddy Tat, my favourite, then I randomly started to push the remote buttons in the problematic attempt to adjust the volume. While I asked myself for the umpteenth time why remotes and the relative buttons are made so small Steve came in, right after the same scene that happened every rainy night repeated itself punctually. The wet soles of his shoes slipped on the parquet, he lost his step and tripped on the carpet colliding right against the china cabinet placed in a corner of the entrance, now lacking of ornaments for a while. The latter started to stumble and Steve engaged a sort of Greek-Roman fight to keep it steady. My friend Steve was a Police Inspector and he was a really good policeman, the best I had ever worked with (the only one to be honest!). However, as insightful and precise, determined and careful as he was at work, in his private life he was a complete mess. He was messy and distracted, he was also shy and insecure, it probably was because of this that at the age of thirty-seven years old he couldn’t build a serious and lasting relationship with one of his peers.
After recovering from his collision with the china cabinet, Steve cursed a few times rubbing his knee hard and hitting his foot on the ground because of the pain and the rage, then he threw the ratty and soaking raincoat on the coat rack keeping murmuring a few bad words. In the end, like every night, he let himself fall in the armchair with his arms dangling over the armrests and his head fallen back. He closed his eyes for a few moments, apparently looking for a moment of peace. He changed his mind. He opened his eyes again and glanced at me serious, he got up and came to take the remote from me, not caring about me glaring at him, then he threw himself on the armchair again. He turned down the volume that after a lot of work I had just managed to adjust and started talking.
Aware of what was waiting for me I sighed defeated telling myself that I was a victim of a proper injustice: one works from morning until night, poorly paid and poorly appreciated, often even ridden roughshod over and without any sure perspective for the future and for the retirement. At the end of the day you sit yourself calmly on the couch without too many demands and without disturbing anyone, just hoping to be able to watch a cartoon peacefully... but no! You’re forced to listen to our work mate’s talking, who has the damned habit of never stopping talking. To be honest he didn’t behave in that way very often, but when he did I seriously hated him, especially if right in that moment the Looney Tunes were on TV.
«I’m sorry for leaving you alone, but I was busy. Soon we’ll have to go hear a bird sing» he said while his gaze lit up, and I’ve never understood why he really liked expressing himself that way, like the character of a fourth category thriller movie. In spite of myself I turned my head a little, trying not to lose my sight on the television, and I glanced at him acting interested.
«That’s right, we’re close» he added excited after nodding for a long time in the attempt of lifting my curiosity to the guard level.
I kept looking at him without blinking, absentmindedly, but just for an instant. Right after my eyes, irresistibly attracted, turned to land on the screen again. Puddy Tat just leaned himself from the drainpipe, he did it that little too much that was enough to make him fall from the roof of a twenty-six story skyscraper.
Chapter 2
The disappointing affair
«Hey, I’m talking to you» my mate grabbed my attention again, I looked back at him starting to feel really irritated. If I couldn’t have the sound, I wanted at least to enjoy with my eyes the ruinous fall of the old fleabag. When the latter got up dizzy, with his eyes veined red and the birds flying around his head, only to crumble in thousand pieces later, I was hysterical.
«I got a new contact,» Steve insisted with his eyes shining with satisfaction, «soon we’ll have an appointment with a confidant. He’ll give concrete proofs, so that we’ll finally manage to stop extra money from flowing in the police district. We’ll send home so many corrupted agents that they’ll have to do a new contest, otherwise there won’t be enough policemen in the town anymore.. hey, are you listening to me or not?»
I puffed even more upset and I landed definitely my gaze on him, now the ending credits of the cartoon were rolling. I stretched and prepared myself mentally, I lifted my pointy ears to listen to him and decided that at the end of his story I would’ve taken a good nap. But my mate, now offended by my behaviour, left me be. He stretched an arm back and pressed a button of the voicemail placed on the a cabinet at his back, inserting the loud speaker.
“Steve, honey, when are you coming to visit your mum? It’s been weeks that I haven’t heard from you. Warn me the day before, so that I’ll make you parmesan eggplant, that you like so much... ah, I bought you three pairs of underwear, the really comfortable ones... and then remember...”
My friend shook his head and pressed another button.
“Hello champion, it’s Paolo. So, are you still alive? Remember that tomorrow night we have the rematch of the bocce ball tournament. And this time come concentrated, after the embarrassment of the other time we have to over-win. This time we have to humiliate them all, or all the District will make fun of us until retirement”.
Steve pressed the button another few times to make the tape scroll faster, ignoring the messages he didn’t care about. Suddenly a voice of a woman was heard.
“It’s me, Mara” it said in a soothing tone “I wanted to thank you for the flowers. It was really kind of you to remember my birthday. I really liked them, seriously, however I take the opportunity to point out one thing: in the last three months, on several occasions, you delivered an entire greenhouse to my house. You dedicated me sixteen songs at the radio, you took me to watch fourteen sunsets and twenty one love films, and lastly you made me four aphrodisiac dinners... but going further it’s not really an option! Look, that I’m not Heidi. I’m almost forty, you could’ve at least given me a kiss. Anyway now I feel the need of reflecting for a while, so please don’t look for me... I’ll be in touch.” Steve blushed and looked at me astonished, without saying anything, I awkwardly gave him an expression of fact as if to say: “Well, don’t worry, there are a lot more of them.” In the meantime I asked myself why relationships between men and women are often so difficult. Human beings are the only species in the world where two elements of the opposite sex , to build a relationship, have to satisfy a lot of rules: first of all it is necessary that they found themselves mutually pleasant aesthetically, then that they have a dialogue and the same interests in a matter of cinema and music, of hobbies and readings, other than culture. Also they have to find the respective families pleasant, not to talk about the breath and the look, or the colour of the eyes and the hair or about work and the bank account, even if often all these elements have a different weight. Anyway every rule has its exceptions, so sometimes it happens that someone, to board in a sentimental relationship, finds just the bank account interesting enough, or just a single anatomic detail. And to think that all the other girls who live on the planet are often content with a smell or a colour!
Chapter 3
The contact
Suddenly Steve’s expression became sad and I found out to be really sorry about it, a few times I had seen him so bitter. While the tape of the voicemail kept scrolling bringing him trivial messages, he took his wallet from the pocket of his trousers. He pulled out a picture and a few letters all crumpled, he looked at the picture in silence for a few instants and then looked through the letters quickly because now he knew them by memory. He smelled them deeply, then he crumpled them up and was about to throw them away but he didn’t. He made his way to the cabinet of the living room, inserted a key in the keyhole of a drawer and he opened it. I had baptised it between myself “the drawer of the missed occasions” because it was full of pictures, letters, key rings, smelling, musical and glowing puppets, cinema and disco tickets, postcards, stuffed animals and various gadgets. With a sigh he threw the pictures and the letters in it, then he closed it back with an angry push and in that exact moment the scary awareness of what was waiting for me made its way in my body: at least two hours of exasperated breakdown, with also a synthesis of all the sentimental stories, never begun or died at the start, of the last twenty-nine years of his life... i.e. since he was eight to now. The funny thing was that almost all the women of the Police District had a crush on him, but he, as busy as he was with work, didn’t even notice. If instead of thinking always and only about his duty, he looked a bit around him, he would’ve surely found a girlfriend in less than five minutes.
I found a more comfortable position to prepare myself for that torture and I tried to look attentive and participant, in the end it was about my mate and I didn’t mean to let him down as well!
«Is it possible that since the first time when...» he had just started saying walking back and forth around the living room, when he stopped.
He ran to the voicemail, that in the meantime had kept listing off messages on messages, he rewound the last track and made it start again.
«There we are, the guy I told you about is willing to collaborate but he wants a lot of money. The appointment is tonight at nine at the old industrial area, in front of the only vacant warehouse. Try to be on time and most importantly come alone and unarmed, or else he takes flight and we’ll never track him down anymore» a raspy voice was saying, and I thanked it with all of me because it saved me from a proper torture. Steve checked the clock on the wall and jumped, he went to the coat rack and took his raincoat, that in the meantime had made a puddle of water on the floor, then he turned to look at me serious. “Damn it, the whole world is plotting against me: no cartoons and no nap!” I told myself disappointed, I jumped off the couch and followed him reluctantly.
Chapter 4
At the warehouse
Fortunately, in the meantime it had stopped raining. Steve had the bad habit of adjust himself on his own, so that his convertible car, in a far night of June, became definitely a cabriolet. He was the only one who in those cold and rainy days of the end of February drove with an umbrella tight between his legs, he excused himself repeating to me that the sunroof repair would’ve required a few of his salaries. The problem was that as soon as he accelerated a little, the umbrella punctually fell or flew away… with what he had spent on umbrellas he could’ve bought the whole car again!
«Damn it, we’re late» my friend pointed out stopping the car in front of the warehouse. The air was sparkly and had an intense and bitter smell, like petrol. A man with his hands drowned in the pockets was waiting for us in front of the gate, he was wearing a black jacket with the collar up and a hat with large flaps, that heavy with rain fell on the sides hiding almost his face. Steve got out of the car to head towards him and I followed him.
«Where’s the little bird?» Steve asked to the guy dressed in black.
«He already got in» the Boogeyman answered. «He said he can’t wait to have a little sing… but I warned you to come alone!» he added with a strict tone hinting at me with a movement of his head.
I quickly recognised the voice, it was the same one who left the message in the voicemail, I made out that the Boogeyman was probably one of our colleagues. Steve looked at me raising his eyebrows and shrugged, I went back to the car hopping ruefully. The man pushed the heavy sliding gate that gave access to the courtyard of the warehouse, as soon as they were in he hastily closed it and headed towards the main building, followed by Steve. I didn’t like that guy at all and I didn’t like that situation even more. If my friend had a flaw, it was the too much confidence in himself and sometimes also in others, given his profession I found that thing really weird. I also had some flaws: the first was that I hated being put aside, the second that, contrary to Steve, I never trusted anyone. As soon as the steps on the gravel were far I jumped out of the car again, I started following the perimeter of the fence in the search of a crack that allowed me to monitor them. I had almost completed the patrol of the building and I had just stopped to pee for the third time (you never know, sometimes it might happen to come back to the places) when suddenly the volume of the voices started rising, a sign that a violent discussion was on. Fearing that Steve might need me, I decided to quickly end the patrol in search of another entrance. Unfortunately the alley that followed the perimeter of the warehouse interrupted harshly in a dead end. The voices were heard louder and tensed, now they became proper screams, I rotated the head a little and pricked up my ears to understand better what they were saying.
«But what’s happening? Are you by any chance crazy, or is this a prank? What do you want to do with that gun? Put it away, you could fire a bullet» my friend was saying worried.
«You need to tell me who the other snitches are!»
«But what do you want to do, do you want to shoot me?»
«If you make me do it I’ll shoot you, you can be sure of it! I told you that you have to tell me all the names, and then you have to stop get involved in things that don’t concern you, understood? This matter is a lot bigger than you!» the Boogeyman insisted.
«Okay, okay, I understood» my friend answered to gain time «I’ll tell you everything and I’ll give you the documents that I gathered. But now put away the gun and let’s get out, if my mate sees you threatening me he’ll become aggressive».
«And you call that sort of dog mate?» the Boogeyman replied in a contemptuous tone triggering me.
«Anyway it’s fine with me, but first you have to manage to convince me that you learned the lesson. And then there are still a few things to clear» he concluded.
Chapter 5
The situation goes south
I started to go down the road backwards running as fast as I could.
During the walk around the building I noticed a big window placed really high. Under it, near the wall, there were some piled boxes that I could’ve tried to climb. Without thinking about it twice I leapt and started jumping from box to box to arrive at the top of the mountain, I noticed almost quickly that they were empty and in that moment I don’t know why Puddy Tat came to my mind. Leaning and fighting to not lose balance, risking of falling down because the boxes weak because of the rain had already started falling under my weight, I managed to throw a glance over the glass. The Boogeyman had Steve at gunpoint with his back towards me, under the sleazy light of a neon. My friend saw me and a flash of hope went through his blue eyes.
«Go, Leo! Go now» he yelled at me with all the breath he had.
The other hesitated and turned around to look behind him, Steve took advantage of that moment of indecision to jump on him and they started fighting rolling on the slippery pavement. I stayed there watching, unable to decide what to do and in the meantime I kept flopping to not fall down the cardboard mountain. The Boogeyman managed to hit my mate on the chin with his head, Steve let go, dizzy, and the other took the chance to wriggle himself. He added some salt throwing a punch at his stomach, then he threw himself on the gun that had slipped from his hand.
«Damn meddler, you asked for it!» he yelled lifting his tense arm towards Steve to aim.
The latter in the meantime got back up and started running zigzag to a big machine, in the desperate search of a shelter. The situation was bad, moreover at any moment the boxes would’ve collapsed definitely. That was my last occasion to try and help my friend. Banned every hesitation, I gathered myself to jump. The first gunshot exploded while I hit the window, his echo rang so hard to cover the noise of the glass breaking into pieces. Deaf, with a sharp hiss planted in the ears, I saw the second flame come out of the barrel of the gun just as I landed with my paws on the floor. Hearing the first shot explode Steve had instinctively ducked his head and had stopped. While he slowly turned around he was hit in plain chest. The impact with the bullet threw him back, when his back touched the ground something fell out of one of the pockets of his raincoat. A small squared and shiny object slipped along the smooth and greasy floor, until it fell down a slot. The Boogeyman, that now was running towards the door with the intention of sneaking away, I lose interest in him to run to my mate.
«Take him, Leo. Take that carrion» he said to me in a whisper.
I ran fast as I had never done before but it was useless, when I got to the exit the other had already slipped out and closed back the gate. I only managed to see, from a crack, the Boogeyman getting in the car. He left in reverse to exit the parking lot and hit a lamp pole, right after he winded the engine, engaged the first gear and got away hurriedly lifting a rain of gravel.
Chapter 6
Steve’s death
I sadly came back to my friend and I found him still laying on the ground on his back, with his head turned to the side and the knees bent. He gasped. I licked his hand. He slowly turned the head, then with a superhuman effort he managed to lift an arm to pet me behind the ear, like he always did. His hand was so cold that gave me a shiver. I closed my eyes, enlightened by an idea I stretched to stick my nose in the pocket of the raincoat, in the search of the mobile phone.
«It’s useless, I forgot it at home... I’m sorry my friend, I’m afraid that this time it’s really over...» he murmured with a sad face understanding, my intentions, then he looked at me with glossy eyes and I let out a desperate growl.
Reading the resignation in his eyes I understood that there was nothing to do anymore, so I crouched down to his side, as close as possible to try to give him a bit of warmth. After a few instants he was shook by a cough, then another and another one.
«I’m sorry» he whispered one last time, then he closed his eyes forever.
There was an abyssal silence left, never heard before, interrupted just by the whistle of some gusts of cold air that came in from the big broken window. They brought the sour smell of the gunpowder, that mixed to the one of my friend’s blood was really nauseating. But I didn’t go away, he was my friend and I wouldn’t have left him alone for the world! He was there next to me, still, he was there however he wasn’t here anymore. He ignored me, and I couldn’t understand why.
“It’s not fair... you can’t leave me like that, we made an oath! Always together, until the end... you promised me!” I thought.
That had always been our jinx quote, he had repeated it every time before going into action. Two words, a wink and then away, together towards the danger. Those words meant that if something bad were to happen, (we knew well that it was a possibility, given the profession we had), we had to leave together. But no, after years of a deep friendship and actions taken shoulder to shoulder (or perhaps I should say shoulder to paw), suddenly he left me alone that way! And the worst thing is that I felt guilty, I kept repeating to myself that if I had been more careful and decisive, maybe things would’ve gone differently. Instead I had too much faith in him, I waited too long before jumping through that bloody window!
A memory suddenly snuck up on me giving me a soft thread of hope. During the training weeks, when I was still a little more than a puppy, he often took me to play in the countryside. There we would roll on the grass, immerged in the warm and scented air and in the never ending flying of the colourful butterflies. We fought until he suddenly faked death. What a fright he gave me, the first times! Terrified I licked his face and I shook him with my paw, right after he jumped on his feet laughing like crazy. I knew it was useless, but I tried anyway...
“No, it’s not a prank!” I thought desperate.
Chapter 7
The release
The following morning, called by the owners of the near warehouse because of my barking and my continue yelps, a few colleagues came to see what happened and they found us there. I tried all night to retrieve the small object that came out of the pocket of Steve’s raincoat, but there was nothing to do. I could reach it with my paw but to grab it I would’ve had fingers. I tried digging a hole with the only result of breaking my nails against the cement floor, I also tried to get it with my mouth but unfortunately my mouth didn’t fit the hole in the floor because it was too tight. I insisted anyway, stubborn as ever, in the end I got myself a good cut just above my nose. I also tried to grab the agents’ attention, taking them by the sleeves and pulling them towards the hole, but it was all useless: they, after taking turns in cheering me up for a few minutes, answered to my barking saying that they didn’t have time to play and started dedicating themselves to their occupations without giving me attention anymore... as if in that moment I had wanted to start playing! Little by little the scientific and the photographers, the detectives and the journalists, arrived on the spot, after a while someone put Steve in a grey coffin that was taken away on a grey van.
«Boss, what do we do with him?» an agent asked to the Captain, the latter crouched down in front of me and took my face between his hands.
«Poor Leo... I can’t really imagine how hard it must’ve been for you... seeing your own mate get killed in front of your eyes! Seeing him being taken away in a metal coffin... and moreover you can’t talk, otherwise I’m sure that the murderer would’ve his hours numbered... damn it! Take him with you to Steve’s house and take his things, he’s going to stay with us at the station for a while and we’ll see if someone will want to adopt him.»
Hearing that they would’ve taken me home lifted my mood a little, in fact the murderer’s voice was recorded on the voicemail. I would’ve made sure that someone listened to it, I would’ve made them understand that the one recorded was the voice of the jerk who murdered in cold blood my friend. I was sure that it wouldn’t have been hard, but as soon as I got out the car I adverted the smell of gunpowder and petrol. The murderer had been here without any doubt, to find the documents Steve talked about and to delete the message in the voicemail. In fact the inspection that took place in the apartment, in the search of something that could make light on his last living hours, was hopeless.
All my life I often wished I had hands, maybe only once, even just for a day. Convinced that hands were one of the few real differences between me and a human being, I had always asked myself how many things I could’ve done if I had them. I could’ve played around with the most futile (but also fun!) like make a cat rotate in the air by holding him from his tail, to then open my fingers and see it fly away, or throw rocks and pine cones on my own to then chase them and bring them back. But I could’ve also used them to do useful things, like for example open the door on my own when I had my needs or throw a blanket on me when I was cold, also I would’ve owned the fridge and the television. That time I found myself wanting that so intensively like I had never done. In fact I was aware that if for some miracle it could’ve been possible, even if just for five minutes, I could’ve got the mystery object that Steve lost and with that I would’ve put the murderer to the wall! Instead I felt like just a useless dog, with four useless paws. I fell in a deep state of depression and spent the following three days lying on an improvised doghouse in the waiting room of the Police District, with my mouth placed on my front paws, without eating nor ever lifting my eyes. Sometimes I would turn my ears without moving, when I felt that someone was pointing at me or said my name or my mate’s one, but I really couldn’t react.
Chapter 8
At the funeral
“I’ll never get attached to anyone anymore, and I don’t want any human being at my side anymore! You give him all of you, you protect his house and you make his kids play (and unfortunately the kids’ favourite game with dogs is the one of pulling continuously, with all their strength, their ears and their tails)
