Five women, long-time friends, were comfortably settled on large blankets under the gentle sun of a summer day. They were enjoying their well-deserved rest — joking, sharing the latest news, sometimes falling silent as they gazed at the horizon.
Next to them, in a basket, were homemade treats — cookies, fruit, refreshing drinks. The women laughed and had fun.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a dog appeared — a medium-sized mixed breed with alert eyes and tousled fur. It started running around the group, barking loudly and wagging its tail, but there was something uneasy in its movements.
— Look how cute! — laughed one of the women, offering the dog a piece of cookie.
— Probably hungry, — added another, throwing it another treat.
But the dog didn’t even look at the food. It kept circling, going from one woman to another, barking louder and louder. The friends froze for a moment, feeling that something was wrong.
Then one of them — the most observant — suddenly turned pale:
She pointed with a trembling hand at the animal’s side. Between the tufts of reddish fur were dark drops — blood.
The women, at first not believing their eyes, looked at each other and then leaned closer. Indeed, on the dog’s paws and side there were fresh blood stains.
— My God… is it hurt? — asked one of the friends, frightened.
But the dog didn’t seem hurt — it didn’t limp, didn’t whimper, didn’t complain. Instead, it suddenly jumped up and ran toward a rocky cape.
The friends looked at each other in confusion — and decided to follow. They quickly got up from their blankets and tried to keep up with the dog’s quick leaps across the hot sand.
As they came closer, their hearts tightened. On a wet sandbank, right by the shore, lay an unconscious man. Under his head was a dark stain of blood, and next to him a wet stone glistened — he had probably slipped and hit his head.
The dog ran to him, sniffed, and started barking again, as if asking for help. The women looked at each other anxiously, then one of them took out her phone and, with trembling fingers, explained the situation to emergency services.
— Is he breathing? — asked one of the friends as she knelt down.
— Barely… — answered another softly, placing her hand on the man’s chest.
The women tried to keep him conscious, calmed the dog, and waited for the ambulance.
The same thought circled in each of their minds: if it hadn’t been for this loyal dog, they would never have known that a tragedy was unfolding just a few steps away from their happy outing.
A few minutes later, the ambulance siren pierced the summer air. The man was carefully lifted onto a stretcher. The women breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the doctors bandaging him.
And the dog finally allowed itself to relax a little — it came up to one of the women and let itself be petted, as if to say thank you for the help.
