He nodded. Then he opened his mouth and thought better of speaking. He held up a hand, signalling for her to wait. Torrent walked out, the door clicked softly behind him. He returned holding a pet carrier. It was small and purple. The animal inside was growling.

“What have you got in there?”

Torrent put the carrier down.“Um… I couldn’t leave her there.” He chewed his lower lip. “I struggled to leave any of them there.” His expression darkended. “No creature should have to live behind those bars, in tiny cages. It’s not right.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why I bothered though…” Then he grinned broadly and shrugged. “She’s not very grateful for the rescue.” As if on cue, another grow sounded.

Torrent opened the door to the carrier. It took about a half a minute but a tiny dog finally emerged. It looked like a chihuahua cross. She was almost black with dark eyes. There was grey fur around her mouth, which idicated that she was already quite old.

This time a serious lump formed in her throat and she had to really fight the tears. The older animals hardly ever found new homes. Torrent went down onto his haunches, he spoke softly to the small creature. The little dog wagged her tail but she also growled at poor Torrent. The growling got worse as he put a hand out towards her but then again so did the tail wagging.

Torrent chuckled. “I’m not sure what to make of her.” He shook his head. “I hope you don’t mind but I named her already.”

“Oh yeah?” Candy put the puppy down. The little one bounced around. He ran over to the black female and bounced around her but she remained indifferent.

Torrent nodded. “Yeah. It’s on account of her love hate relationship for me. You see, I know she loves me. I can tell these things.”

Candy made a sound of acknowledgement.

“But, she growls if I come anywhere near her. She snaps at me if I try and touch her.”

“I see.”

“I’ve decided that I have to call her Candy. Candy the Second.” He gave her a shiteating grin.

“You can’t name our dog after me.”

Our dog.

Our. Her heart raced.

“Want to bet? Watch this… Candy… Candy…” He called the dog, who turned towards him. The animal wagged her tail even harder. The moment Torrent moved a little closer she growled baring her little teeth. “See, she knows her name.”

Candy couldn’t help but to smile. “You can’t call her that.”

“It’s already done.”

She reached out and scratched the old girl behind the ear. There was zero reaction of any kind. No aggression, but neither was there any show of happiness. Pure indifference.

Torrent leaned in. “Your name is Candy. Am I right, girl?” The little dog wagged her tail. “See.”

“We’ll think of something else… together.”