The sun shone brightly by now. The rats were long gone, spooked by the warm rays of light and the footsteps echoing off the concrete walls in the side street. Leaf found a hole in the side of a dumpster and hid for what seemed like hours. He missed Emily unbearably.
Leaf found an old banana and a half-finished chicken sandwich in the dumpster and ate it. He drank from a puddle and slept in his box next to the heat vent.
He lived like this for two weeks; eating garbage, drinking from puddles and sewers, and sleeping outside in a box. Snow was piled high in the alley by now, and the only sanctuary was the dumpster. Leaf managed to nudge the dumpster to the heat vent after it was emptied by garbage pickup, and he made a home for himself.
One day, a homeless man came to the alley. Leaf watched him curiously as the man dug through the dumpster for food. Leaf whined as the man took the sandwich Leaf had been struggling to reach for days; a mustard pastrami sub. The man's gaze snapped to the dog and he beamed.
"What a good dog," the man murmured. "I haven't had company in years. It'd be nice to get a companion. Come, boy!"
Leaf cautiously walked over to the man and nudged his leg.
"Here, buddy," the man handed Leaf a piece of deli meat from the old sandwich he dug up from the trash. "I'll take care of you. You're my dog now."
The man's name was Richard. He had had a great job, but his home had gone down in a fire, and his wife left him. With everything going on in his life, he was unable to focus on his job and got fired. He had been living on the streets for six years now.
Richard was kind and forgiving, and he always shared his with Leaf. The pair lived together for three months before the people came.
