Thirst

It was still bright and hot and he was parched. That is when he saw the thing humans often carried. He crushed the bottle with his paws and shook it when the water trickled out. He lapped up the fast drying liquid. Unsatiated, he tried squeezing the thing again and more water came out, but his dry mouth and tongue couldn’t get enough of its coolness. He looked around and found several humans easily glugging water from the thing. He tried to copy what they did by biting the top part but his mouth couldn’t hold it properly. He again tried to squeeze the bottle and more water flowed out but the hot cement floor absorbed it much faster than he could sip. Even this exertion seemed to tire him out. One of his companions walked to him and tried licking at the trace of water but got only dust in his mouth. A group of humans walked by, rushing to get into the train. He and his companion barked and tried to chase them when one from the group threw a rolled newspaper at them. He was excited thinking may be this thing too had water. So he and his companion began tearing at the paper and soon realised that no water was to come. He tried the bottle again but he couldn’t get even a drop to his throat. He gave up and lay down, panting.   

Meanwhile, the girl looked sadly at the dog and his struggle to quench his thirst. She looked around for any small container or even a paper glass so that she could pour water in it and keep. The platform had nothing where she could pour some water. She thought of simply pouring water from her bottle in front of the dog, but was scared as he was ferocious-looking and also, her train was about to leave. She felt guilty and fervently hoped that as the night set in, the dog would feel better. And she decided that next time she encountered anything similar, she would do something to help. 

Next day, as she filled up the tray of water kept for birds and cats, she remembered the dog.