Patch

In a small town where time was running slowly and inconspicuously lived a young and pretty Woman. She led a quite and lonely life in a small apartment on the first floor of an old apartment block. Her dwelling was full of flowers in ceramic pots near windows and on shelves. Books in ancient and not so ancient covers were piling up in book cases and on bookshelves. But not a living soul – apart from the owner herself – dwelled in the cozy apartment.
God did not send her kids, although she always dreamed of them. Each time she came across a married couple with a baby in a cradle, or a young mom pulling a kid by his hand the Woman used to stop and watch them go by. Then with a sigh she used to go on along her way. As a matter of fact, the Woman was not married, and she did not want to have a child that would grow up without a father.
Years passed by and she did not manage to find a partner. For that, of course, there was a reason and that was the Woman herself. No, she was not too picky or inaccessible. The reason of another kind did not let her settle her private life. The weirdest thing was that many men liked her at first sight: she was in great shape, had wonderful hair and a pretty face. She could be described as beautiful, however, only on one side of her face. Whenever she turned her other side to men they used to loose interest and quickly disappear. All because of a traffic incident many years ago that took both her parents and disfigured left side of her once pretty face. After the death of her parents her Grandma looked after her, but she died too ten years ago and left her the apartment in the old apartment block. Ever since the Woman had lived absolutely alone. She could not even have a dog, because there was nobody to take the dog out at day time, and she did not want to torment a poor animal. She had no friends, as she thought that everyone around was only dealing with her out of pity.
The Woman got used to her loneliness, however still was cherishing hope that one day a Prince Charming with kind eyes would find her and marry her, despite all the damnations that ruined her life! Sure, everything can be fixed. Knowledgeable people used to say that a plastic surgery can restore the beauty of her face. But the surgery was too expensive and the Woman could not afford it.
She had worked for many years in a small library and had walked to and from her work along the same road. Passing by a small flea market she used to notice vendors selling baby goods. Soft toys always attracted her attention. One could wonder, what used to bring her here. May be the kids that were always swarming around the toys, or, may be, because in her heart she was still a small girl…
One day returning home from work she noticed a new vendor’s shelf with a variety of especially bright toys. She could not resist temptation and approached the vendor. It was rather late in the day, there were few people at the market and vendors already started packing their merchandise.
“Buy something from me, miss, - a vendor dressed as a red-haired clown said, - I see you like my toys. Take this doll for your daughter. And if you have a son buy this railway – he will be very happy. Do you have kids?”
“I do.” – She answered quietly, just not to admit that she did not have kids at her age. Her face turned red because she had to lie albeit to a stranger.
The vendor didn’t notice the color of the pretty side of her face in the evening twilight.
“You look so young. Your kids must be small yet?” – The clown asked as if he did not notice her spoiled face, and even the Woman herself forgot about it for the moment.
“They are.” – She said, still embarrassed.
“Then take this dog. It is funny and inexpensive.” – The red-haired clown took the big, brightly colored fluffy toy from a hook and handed it to the Woman. – “Buy it, you won’t regret.”
“How much is it?” – She took an animal toy that looked like a spaniel with long ears and a short tail.
The clown’s price was very reasonable.
“This bulk was confiscated by the customs at the border. It was being smuggled from one of the Southern countries. That’s why we sell these animals for such a good price. This dog is the only one left.”
“I have never seen you here before. Where did you come from?”
“From far away…” – The vendor avoided a direct answer. – “So, will you take the doggy?”
The big kind eyes of the dog stared at the Woman. She could not resist and bought the toy.
“How should I name you now?” – She asked when she brought the toy home and put it on her bed. – “Benny? Patsy? No… Not good… What are you then?” – The dog lied on the bed with all four legs spread around, and looked just like a patchy little blanket made of small colorful pieces. – “Patch! That’s how I am going to name you! Hope you don’t mind…”
The dog did not say anything – it was just a toy after all, and could not talk, so the name Patch stuck to it forever.
That’s how the Woman got a real friend – the first one for many years. She spoke with him as with a living thing, and he saw her off to work and met her back from work. The faithful dog slept on a pillow close to her at night. He wasn’t making dirt in the apartment when he was left alone, didn’t make any noise, didn’t leave hair on the carpet, in short, Patch was only bringing joy to his owner. The toy dog was the size of a baby and the Woman wanted to buy him dress as if he was a real kid. And she did exactly that! And when Patch was dressed in shorts, a shirt and running shoes he indeed looked like a human baby. The Woman used to grab him by his legs and lead him along the apartment. The toy in running shoes was shaking left and right in a funny way. If anybody could see the Woman in those moments he would have thought that she went out of her mind because of loneliness and grief, and he could not be farther from truth. Those were her happiest moments, as if with Patch she finally came by a real baby!
And everything would be great if only the Woman did not start hearing quiet steps in her apartment at night. She used to wake up and could not go back to sleep listening to the noises of the night. The moment her bedside lamp was on it was quiet. But in the darkness it was happening again. The Woman could not rest and she decided to see a doctor.
“Talk to me.” – A mature doctor dressed in snow-white robe said.
“You see, doctor, I can sleep at night since a while.”
“Something bothers you?”
“It seems like I hear someone’s steps at night.”
“You live alone?” – The doctor asked.
“Yes. In a big apartment, and I am completely alone.”
“I see… I remember a similar case: one of my patients was hearing someone breathing, but it turned out to be a wall clock. Do you have a wall clock at home?”
“Yes, I do… But I don’t hear breathing, I hear steps!”
“Since how long has it been happening?”
“Since I bought a large toy dog.”
“I see.” The doctor got interested. – “Go on, please, I need all the details from this point.”
“It seems like Patch is walking at night.”
“Patch?”
“Well, that’s the name of the dog.” – The Woman explained, and suddenly regretted her coming to the doctor. With such hallucinations they could easily take her for a nut-case… But the doctor did not rush to call the handlers with restraining suits and she relaxed a little.
“Well, it happens that dogs are walking around in apartments. But yours is a toy, so just calm down and forget it all. I will prescribe you tranquilizer pills, take one every night and you will sleep like a baby.” – And he started writing the prescription.
“May I ask you one more question?” – She said cautiously encouraged by the doctor’s understanding.
“Sure you may!”
“Is it possible that the soul of my dead father is now in the toy?”
The doctor stopped writing and gave her a troubled look.
“Your father died?”
“Father and Mother, both of them. They were killed in a traffic accident. Long time ago, when I was a child.”
“Well…” – The doctor hesitated a little.
“Doctor, don’t think I am crazy! It is just that Patch has such eyes that sometimes I feel that my father is looking at me.”
“Well, my dear, that would be very strange. I don’t deal with such things. Try a medium or a magician… Take the pills I prescribed. If it does not help get back to me in a week, we will think of something else. Good bye.”
“Bye.” – She said and left.
The sleeping pills worked. The Woman slept well now and mysterious steps did not bother her any longer. One night, however, she fell asleep before the TV without taking pills. She woke up late at night and heard the steps again.
Having gathered all her courage the Woman turned on the light and quietly got up from her bed. Stepping cautiously she looked out of the bedroom. Patch lied near the entry door with his legs in running shoes wide spread. What the hell! How did he get there? She remembered leaving him at the chair near the TV. She turned on light in all the rooms and walked around. The apartment was empty. The Woman tried to relax as much as she could. She put the dog back in the chair, took two pills and fell deeply asleep.
One week later she could sleep without medicine, the night troubles disappeared.
Half a year has past. Gone were warm summer days, cold and slippery weather arrived. Flu was raging in the town, and having had to meet many people at her workplace the Woman caught flu. She called a doctor and got a prescription to stay in bed. No doubt, it would be better to place her in a hospital, but that was overwhelmed by the flu, and the Woman stayed at home. A kindhearted old woman neighbor went to the drugstore to buy medicine.
Not typically for the late fall a heavy thunderstorm broke out in the evening. Lightnings were flashing in the sky followed by deafening thunder. Strong wind was throwing heavy drops of rain into the window. One of the gusts opened a small window in the kitchen of the apartment. And then the unexpected happened: a small brightly shining ball flew into the kitchen. Shaking and hissing it made a few rounds around the kitchen and then disintegrated into thousands of sparks with a deafening bang. Small flames licked the curtains. A big trouble was coming. Very soon the kitchen was full of smoke that began spreading into the lobby. However the Woman didn't notice that. She was delirious with the high fever, sweating and shaking in the bed, and her beautiful hair was wet from her sweat. It seemed to her that someone was moving aside her and squeaking like a dog.
“Patch! Patch, is that you?” - She called coming back to her senses and not understanding where she was. Something live jumped down from the bed and disappeared. – “Patch! Patch!” - She called again and reached out with her hand. The dog wasn't there. What happened after that she didn't remember as she went delirious again.
She woke up in a hospital bed the next morning.
“What happened? Where am I?” – She asked. The nurse by her bedside explained that the fire broke out in her apartment last night. Neighbors called fire brigade and ambulance. The firemen quickly extinguished the fire, and the ambulance delivered her to the hospital.
The first thing the woman wanted was to get home as soon as possible. However, doctors didn't let her go as she was still very weak.
“I was the first to see the fire.” - The kindhearted neighbor woman said when she came to see her in hospital the next day. – “And I called the emergency services.”
“Thank you! You saved my life!” - The woman said. – “But how did you know about the fire? That was late in the night!”
“Well, usually I sleep very well, but a dog was hauling very loudly at that night, I couldn't bear it. I woke up, went out and saw the smoke coming from under your door. That's when I called the fire brigade.” - The neighbor said.
“That is strange,” - The woman said, - “There are no dogs in our apartment block.”
“That's what surprised me too!” - The neighbor agreed.
Some more weird things were discovered later when the woman left the hospital and went to the police to collect the keys to her apartment. The district policeman was the last to leave her apartment after the fire and he was the one who locked it.
“It’s good that you managed to shut the gas valve at the kitchen, - The old Captain said giving her the keys - otherwise your apartment would have burned to the ground. It is possible the whole apartment block could've burned. You see, a shelf fell off the wall and damaged the gas pipeline. Gas is a very dangerous stuff.”
“But I didn't shut the gas… and how did the firemen get into the apartment? The door is intact!” - The Woman said when she and the policeman came to her home.
“Yes,” - agreed the Captain, - “is not easy to break such a door. The old work, they don't make such doors any more. But when the firemen arrived the door was opened, otherwise they would have lost a lot of time to get in.” - The policeman said with confidence in his voice. -  “Wasn't it you who opened it?”
“No!” - The surprised Woman said. – “I was unconscious.”
The policeman looked puzzled.
“Don't the neighbors have your key?”
“No, I have the only copy.”
“That's weird!” -  The Captain said and wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. It appears that someone opened your apartment and by doing that saved your life. Had the firemen gotten in your apartment five minutes later they wouldn't have saved you. There was too much of smoke in the apartment.”
“Then who is this mysterious savior?” - The woman wondered.
“Well, I don't know,” - The policeman said, - “Just check if anything is missing in the apartment.”
The Woman entered her apartment and looked around. The apartment was in a relative order, the furniture in the kitchen was a little burnt, and the wallpaper in the lobby was a bit damaged by water. In general the apartment was OK. There was a strong smell of smoke.
“Patch is nowhere to be found…” - The Woman said sadly.
“Who’s that?” The policeman wondered.
“It's my dog. A toy.”
“Well, you will find it later.” - The policeman said and left having done his duty.
The woman walked around her apartment once more. Patch was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly something dawned on her. She realized that no one else could awaken the neighbor, unlock the door. That was incredible, but nobody else could have done it. The woman knew now where to look for Patch. She rushed to the kitchen gas valve. The dog was lying in the corner crashed under a piece of furniture, all burnt and wet. The woman picked up the remnants of her savior, pressed him to her chest and cried. All of a sudden something fell off the belly of the toy. She looked down and saw a large ring with a blue stone in it. It was shining with all colors. Even at first glance it was obvious that the ring was very expensive. But how did it get into the belly of poor Patch? At that moment that woman remembered the clown’s story about confiscated smuggle from one of the Southern countries.
She did not throw the remains of her savior into the garbage bin. She buried him as if he was a real dog in a forest under a large pine-tree. She waited for a little while near the tree and started to leave when she noticed a lonely figure in a long dark dress among the young trees on a hill. Something remotely familiar flashed in her mind when she saw this figure.
“Father?!” - A crazy thought crossed her mind.
“Father!” - She screamed on top of her voice and ran towards the dark figure. The silhouette began moving away and soon faded into the forest.
The end of the story is simple. The woman went to the capital city where she sold the ring and spent the money on plastic surgery that restored her beauty. A young plastic surgeon operated her. He has just returned from abroad where he studied. He fell in love with his patient and proposed to her. And she accepted.
They got married in a few months, and woman moved to the capital city. A year later she gave birth to a daughter.
Every year the woman together with her husband and daughter used to visit the small-town where this story happened. And every time they visited the market hoping to buy a little Patch, just like the one the woman had before. But the vendor never appeared on the market. And other vendors couldn't remember where that red-haired clown appeared from that day, and where he went after.
This is the end of the story of the brave Patch, which looked like a patched blanket, the story about a little toy dog that happened to have a real big heart.