Walking across the park, he zipped up his jacket and put on his gloves. He could hear each twig he stepped on. No one rarely uses the park anymore to get into the city. The main road was much safer, people thought. He couldn’t be bothered because it was much quicker.

So he kept walking and as he was approaching the city, he saw a lady sleeping under a tree. How could she possibly sleep in this weather, he thought. With only a couple of ragged clothes to cover her, the cold certainly got the better of her.

A cardboard sign read “PLEASE help me. I’m in need of money to get started. I currently don’t have a job. PLEASE donate.”

He wanted to stop and help but he was in a hurry to meet his friends. There were so many homeless in the streets, he couldn’t really afford to help all of them.

He kept walking under the neon lights with familiar sounds of engines running. Only a couple minutes from the restaurant, he stopped by the television store and looked at the news channel. It flahsed ‘Boston suspects apprehended’ and ‘ Attacks in Middle East continue’ .

When the Boston attacks happened, he felt sick inside. He remembered asking his father why is the world so cruel and where was God in all of this. His dad couldn’t answer him at that moment. At Sunday school, he certainly was thought to do good. It wasn’t enough with humanity degrading everyday, he thought.

Opening the door, he went inside and met his friends. Seeing all those familiar faces, he forgot all about the news and it certainly gave him warmth in the midst of everything. He smiled.

After two hours of uncontrollable laughter and a good dinner, they decided to call it a day. He said goodbye to them. As he was leaving, a guy called out to him,

“Sir, excuse me sir!”

“Yup?” He responded.

“You left your phone on the table. Here you go, sir” The waiter smiled.

“Thank you so much.” He took his phone and pocketed it. Thank God for such a kind waiter he said to himself.

Where should he go next, he asked himself. He felt like taking a trip to the bookstore. As he walk, he saw a Dalmatian bringing food to another black dog. The dog was lying on the ground. It doesn’t seem to be responding to the food at all. The Dalmatian tried nudging him. His efforts were to no avail. The black dog had passed away. The poor thing. The Dalmatian continued standing next to it regardless. Many stopped and looked at them. Not long after, dog protection services came and picked both of them up. Someone must have called them.

He decided not to go to the bookstore anymore. He went to the mall instead. He came out with two bags and a hot chocolate.

He walked back towards the park near the streets. He took out the blankets from the bags and put it on her. He then woke her up, “Hi, sorry to disturb you. I brought hot chocolate for you. Thought you might want some.” He smiled. Still a bit dazed at what is going on, she tried to see what’s happening. She was so happy with the blankets and hot chocolate she hugged him immediately.

He had a good chat with her. During she asked, what made him do this? To that he responded, “I wanted to be a Dalmatian and a friend. And it’s the least I could do for a lovely lady like you.” She didn’t understand that at all to his amusement. Before he left, she hugged him again.

He walked towards the bus stop. He thought back of the conversation he had with his dad. His dad didn’t respond then but he did say something later after finishing cooking dinner.

“I should think whoever made these attacks probably didn’t experience as much love as you and I did, son. Love is experiential. It’s not something we know immediately but rather feel it and it is so strong an emotion that it makes us do what we do. It teaches us how to be humans and it gives our dignity an identity. It starts with us son. We are to spread that love to everyone, step by step. And it’s the tiniest of things that makes a difference.”

He took out his wallet from his pocket to take out his bus ticket. To his surprise, he found a cardboard there, it read “Thank you again. I certainly got no money to give you but the best thing I can give you is a warm hug. Thank you so much.”

He smiled and put it back inside his pocket and took a seat in the bus. He now knows where to find God.

Love. That’s where God is.