Henry Wang Hengle, Grade 8, BASIS International School Shenzhen I was startled to see a dog out in the wild, even though I didn’t pronounce my sentiments in my countenance. I had only seen a dog locked up in cages, never outside in the open. I absorbed this animal’s features still more closely. It has brown eyes that seemed to shine with jolliness, brown ears that didn’t droop down but stood upright, and brown hair that was untidy. His little brown face seemed to be full of glee at encountering me. The cheerfulness of the dog seemed to radiate to all places so that I became cheerful and jolly in turn. His smile extended to my mouth so that I was smiling, his glee of seeing me was the same for me seeing him. I felt happy again, despite all the difficulties that I had encountered and definitely would encounter. I decided that I should adopt the dog, and a name suddenly came to my head that seemed instant and fitting: Sawyer. I would call the dog Sawyer, and I would call it forever and ever throughout the remainder of my journey to ease my emotions when I was sad and to share my emotions when I was happy. Before the lonely path for hope was only traveled by one; now one would become two, and it would be trodden by both souls together. “Come, Sawyer,” I said to the dog. He leaped forward with a joyful yelp as though accepting that I would be his new master. It was so exciting to embark on the next part of this journey with a companion. I felt at that instant that I depended on the dog and that he depended on me, and we depended on each other for companionship and friendship. Completely forgetting about the hunger growling in my stomach and protesting to my body, the dog and I promenaded forward in the now-noonday sun. | 