Dilpo's gift

Dilpo's bladder was at bursting point. He whined and beat his tail against the floor. He rose hopefully, hearing someone stirring. False alarm. Then shorty appeared at the head of the stairs. Dilpo was overjoyed. He stood and wagged his tail vigorously, whining urgently. Shorty took his time. Dilpo let out a yelp. “Ada chi, iru varen.”

Dilpo had a rash thought - to pee on the carpet. But good sense prevailed. He remembered the incident many years ago which got him a good beating.

At last shorty fastened the leash and opened the door, and then the gate. Dilpo dragged shorty to the tree. By God. What a relief. Then Dilpo moved to the kerb and did his business. Done, he moved aside, making way for shorty. Shorty scooped up the poo and deposited it in the bag.

Just then the brown dog from the corner house came by, held on a leash by the pale gangly guy who lived with him. The brown dog stopped at a safe distance from Dilpo. He kept his eyes on Dilpo cautiously as he too did his business, right in the middle of the road. The pale gangly guy collected the deposits and put it carefully into his bag. Then they went their way.

This was still a mystery to Dilpo, but he knew that his poo was precious to shorty, as it was to the pale guy and all humans. They diligently collected the stuff and took it home. Dilpo had thought a lot about it, and concluded that this was the primary reason the humans fed and housed dogs.

After a short walk around the block, they were back home. Soon shorty's two kids left on the bus. Then shorty himself and his fat companion left in their car. Dilpo had not figured out this one yet either. Where do the humans go all day? He lay down lazily, waiting for the evening to arrive, when the humans would come back and feed him, and let him out again. Sometimes Dilpo would reward them with more poo. After all, that was the least he could do for the humans.