I live in an apartment complex at the end of a road littered with stores. At the entrance to this shopping hot spot today sat a girl about my age with her dog. They both haven’t bathed in a while, and they were both skinnier than I would have liked. The girl was holding the dog with a smile on her face, just talking and petting away. They were behind the sterotypical cardboard sign, but the sign was asking for supplies and food only. I don’t know their story, and I may be naïve, but my heart went out to them nonetheless.

As I approached the red light where they were, her smile got even brighter. She saw Kava hanging out the window, enjoying her car ride du jour. The girl pointed to Kava, and was telling her dog to “look at the puppy.”

I was rummaging around my car for anything that would be useful to them; I never have cash on me anyway. I mouthed to her that I would be right back as I U-turned back towards my apartment.

I gathered a chew toy, some rawhide bones, and a bag of meaty treats. I also grabbed a brand new box of Chips Ahoy cookies (I have, like, zero readymade food today) for the girl to snack on.

I hopped back in the car with Kava, feeling excited to hand over the bag to the duo. I got up to the red light, and they were gone.

I looked everywhere that my eyes could see, and they were nowhere to be found. I’m sure a police officer swung by and told them to move along, but I was sure they couldn’t get too far in five minutes. Turns out, they did.

I’m keeping the bag of goodies in my car for now; hopefully I’ll run into them again soon.