The shriek of metal echoed through the valley as the morning train curved around the hill. Its horn blared once—long, urgent. On the tracks ahead, something small didn’t move.
Workers on the nearby platform froze. “Is that a dog?” someone shouted. The train kept coming, its brakes screaming, sparks flashing beneath the wheels.
Just yards away, the driver caught sight of it clearly—a tiny brown puppy, soaked and trembling, lying flat across the rails.
And yet, even as the train thundered closer, the puppy didn’t run. It was shielding something underneath its body.
