The leash lay on the ground, as if someone had just let go of it. But there was no one nearby. No owner, no trace of someone rushing away.

I froze, expecting someone to come running, call out his name, apologize. But nothing happened. The dog just sat there calmly, looking straight at me. He wasn’t trembling, he wasn’t whining. He was just… waiting. It was the most eerie and touching thing.

I couldn’t just walk past him. He had a collar — so he had a home. He had an owner. I looked around, walked through nearby sections, asked the staff, but no one knew anything. No one had seen him before. No one knew how he got there.