Old woman Sarah's Christmas present

 　　Sarah sighed as she looked out the kitchen window. Last night's heavy snow covered the grass hibiscus to a depth of a foot. For some, it was a beauty; for Sarah, the snow was an inconvenience. At this time, the steps in front of the door and the concrete walkway need to be very careful when walking.

　　It was Christmas Eve, but Sarah saw it as just another bleak and lonely winter's day. There was no Christmas tree outside the front window, no festive lights to decorate the house to express a cheerful atmosphere, and no gifts wrapped in confetti in the house.

　　Sarah's house used to be a place full of the noise of children, but now it's silent. As a widow, she has lived alone for many years, but there is not a day when she does not miss her deceased husband. Now, her grown sons and daughters are working far away.

　　Sarah has been looking forward to her daughter's phone call all day. What a wonderful thing it would be to hear her daughter's voice, and give her the opportunity to say thank you for the gift her daughter sent the other day—a check she really needed. Sarah's son, who is in the Navy, has not been in touch with his mother or sent a gift for months. Sarah didn't know when she would get news of her son again. He might be able to make a call today, or he might not be able to make a call at all.

　　Sarah's feet are not as steady as they used to be, especially in winter, when she is worried that the road will be slippery and easy to fall when the outdoors is icy. She tried to be very careful and always sprinkled some salt on the ice on the steps whenever it was snowing and freezing. Once the salt had melted the ice on the steps, Sarah walked carefully to the sidewalk in front of the door to clear the snow and ice. Unable to use a tool like a snow shovel anymore, she swept it with a broom or pushed the snow to the sides, leaving a trail leading to the mailbox.

　　Sarah picked up a small jar of salt and went to the front door. Suddenly, she stumbled—arthritis pain made it difficult for her to do something so simple. Occasionally, the pain seemed more than she could handle. At this moment, what frustrates her the most is loneliness and loneliness.

　　Sarah opened the door halfway and sprinkled salt on the first steps. Before long, she heard a familiar, soft pop, which indicated that the grains of salt had begun to melt the ice. The old woman stepped on the steps with extreme caution, grabbed a handful of salt from the small jar, and raised her hand to continue spreading it to the ground. But at this moment, her body lost her balance and fell heavily to the ground, and the next thing she could clearly remember was finding herself lying on her back on the aisle in front of the steps.

　　For a while, Sarah was stunned by the accident, and lay there dazed. Afterwards, she tried to get up, but as soon as she moved her body, the pain in her back made her cry out. So she lay down again. Sarah tried a few more times without success, and the situation prevented her from getting up or climbing back into the house. Every time she tried to move, the pain in her back radiated to her legs. A strong sense of helplessness made her sob.

　　Although she was wearing boots, Sarah wished she could be wearing a coat, not pajamas, because the biting wind had been pouring in down her calf. She was a little overwhelmed: would she just lie down like this until she was frozen? Finally die this Christmas day?

　　There are no neighbors nearby, and no one will be here today. A sense of fear caused Sarah to cry out for help, and she did so for an inexplicable amount of time, until her voice became less and less loud, and then she was so hoarse that she could barely make a sound. The front door was still ajar, and she could see the safety and warmth waiting for her, but she just couldn't get up.

　　Sarah began to let the cold come, and gradually felt herself falling into a state of distress. Being very tired, she decided to give up any action, but to sleep for a while and wake up to call for help. The old woman closed her eyes and entered a groggy state.

　　

　　Two It

　　

　　seemed that a nasty bug had crawled on her face, and Sarah tried to dislodge it with her hands, but it didn't seem to be very effective, the bug was shifting places quickly, and she opened her eyes.

　　A pair of large brown eyes appeared in front of Sarah's eyes, which shocked her, and her sleepiness quickly disappeared. Her mind pondered for a while: what is this? It turned out that it was not a little bug crawling, but a dirty dog ​​licking her face with a wet tongue. When the dog realized that the old woman lying on the ground was awake, it began to wag its tail frequently. Then, it jumped onto Sarah's body and fell down. At first, Sarah felt the weight of the dog on her and tried to push it off, but then she felt the dog's body warm and warmed her chest.

　　Sarah didn't know where the dog came from, maybe it heard her call to help. No matter where it came from, she was happy to have a company by her side at the moment. The dog has an old collar around its neck, and the attached dog tag reads "Barney".

　　A look of surprise crossed Sarah's face. Her deceased husband's name was "Barney". It's weird - a really amazing coincidence indeed.

　　Judging from the appearance of the dog, it seems that it has not been adopted by anyone, with a slender body and a lot of dirt on its hair. An hour passed, and Barney hadn't left Sarah. Sarah realized that the front door of the house was open. Barney could have gone right in to keep warm, but he chose to stay with me, what a human little fellow. Sarah couldn't help thinking.

　　The arrival of Barney made Sarah's mind a lot clearer. She began to talk to Barney about her past and how much she was willing to adopt it and give it a warm home. Listening to the old woman's words, Barney seemed to understand something, and responded with a few low whines from time to time.

　　Sarah didn't know how long she could last lying on the ground like this, because except for the warmer chest, the other limbs were almost frozen. Suddenly, the phone rang from inside the house. What if I don't have the ability to answer this call? What if Barney could do something... If...

　　"Barney -- go answer the phone, go answer the phone..." Sarah repeated over and over to the dog that was lying on top of her. said all over the place. It was absurd to ask an animal like a dog to answer the phone, but she felt an expectation growing inside her.

　　Barney the dog watched Sarah without moving. Sarah patted its head and pointed to the door. At this point, Barney seemed to understand what Sarah meant. It stood up, jumped to the ground, walked slowly up the steps, then turned to look at Sarah, as if waiting for her confirmation that it was doing the right thing. So Sarah waved at it, once again expecting Barney to do something for her.

　　Finally, the dog trotted into the house and disappeared from Sarah's sight. After a while, Sarah heard the phone ringing that had been ringing and instantly went silent. Ah! The caller hung up. Sarah thought sadly. Hope it's over again. At this moment, Barney appeared at the door, as if waiting for Sarah's next instruction. The old woman called to lead the dog to her side and put it in her arms. "You're such a good boy," Sarah said. "Anyway, you tried, right?"

　　Sarah felt that she was running out of time in the world. With such a low temperature, several hours have passed, and her body has become more rigid, and there will be no more miracles, and she wants to sleep again. But whenever she closed her eyes, Barney would lick her cheek and yelped softly.

　　

　　Three

　　

　　Suddenly , Barney jumped up and turned his head to the road outside. There was a faint sound of a car in the distance, getting closer and closer. Sarah wanted to shout, but was powerless to make a sound. About a minute later, with the sound of the car closing, a police officer appeared in front of the old woman, who was immediately covered with a thick blanket. Twenty minutes later, Sarah was already in an ambulance, galloping toward the hospital. Before she was carried to the hospital bed, she asked the officer to look after Barney, and the officer readily agreed. Sarah fell asleep in a daze that night. The next morning, as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw her daughter sitting beside the bed. Sarah asked her daughter how the police officer came to her residence. So the daughter told her mother what happened.

　　It turned out that the call was from my daughter, who planned to wish her mother a merry Christmas. The phone rang for a long time, and finally heard that the phone was connected, but strangely there was no voice, only an unfamiliar breathing sound. The daughter suddenly felt that the situation was not good. The mother may be seriously injured or sick and unable to speak... The daughter immediately called the police in the mother's residence and asked them to send someone to her mother's house. "Mom, I didn't know you had a dog! It flipped the receiver! You know, it's this behavior that saved you!"

　　Sarah nodded in relief, explaining that she wanted to Barney went to answer the phone. "It's been on me all the time. Honey, you know, I've never seen this intelligent dog before."

　　The next day, Sarah asked her daughter to tell the officer that Barney was not hers. Yes, but she likes it very much, and if she can't find a master, she is willing to adopt it.

　　A week later, Sarah was discharged from the hospital. The injury on her spine, the cause of the pain, healed quickly with treatment. The doctor told her to be extra careful with things in the future. On the first day Sarah got home, the only thing on her mind was Barney the dog, and she wanted to see him right away. In the afternoon, the officer brought Barney. As soon as Barney, who had been scrubbed clean, saw Sarah, he rushed forward, wagging his tail and jumping on his hind legs. "We didn't find Barney's owner, ma'am," the officer said, "so it's yours. It's really your Christmas present, I think."

　　Sarah will never be alone again. The angel dog Barney she brought home also has a home. So where did it come from? Why is it also called "Barney", this event with some mysterious color may always be a mystery that no one can solve. But that's irrelevant.