Conscience

NotionEra
NotionEra
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read

A man with a conscience is hard to find and even harder to build. Shepherd Francis was one of those men. But conscience is very hard to cultivate. It demands every last bit of you just to keep it alive. For Shepherd Francis, it was one of those situations that demanded a part of him to be sacrificed to keep it alive. Francis’ father obtained a loan from the LandLord Harry Vincent. It has been seven winters since his father had slept peacefully under the old oak tree. Since then Francis had tried his best to repay his father’s loan but at the end of every year, he found himself at the same place. This year things had gone so worse that he had to give up his last remaining few sheep and his dog Olaf. He felt not much for the sheep but Olaf was not just his dog, he was his friend, his family, and his only companion. When his mother passed away due to the plague when he was only 15 back then. Sad and disheartened this little boy found two bright eyes looking at him pleading for a little love. Francis brought that little puppy home and since then Olaf and Francis have shared a special bond. This bond had flourished over the years. Francis forgot all his worries while playing with Olaf. Olaf also loved him dearly. He had always been a comforting company and effective assistant. Both of them seemed inseparable. It was so difficult for him to give up Olaf. He made a request to Lord Harry that keeps Olaf for at least a month. So that he could gather enough money in meanwhile to get Olaf back. Lord agreed as he knew Francis was the man of his word.

Olaf was sent away to Lord Harry’s household. He was very sad due to the abrupt separation from his lifelong friend. He scarcely ate and never played with the kids. It was a dark night when some burglars broke into the Lord’s house and stole all the gold. Olaf saw them but didn’t bark. He silently saw them loot all the gold. But when they left the house he silently followed them saw the place where they hid the gold and came back home. Next morning when the Lord found out about the burglary. He became red with fury. Olaf started tugging at the Lord’s pants. This made him even angrier. He became blind with anger and blamed Olaf for not barking at the thieves. He flocked the dog mercilessly. Olaf ran away and Lord followed him. He deliberately led the lord to that place where the burglars hid the gold. When the Lord discovered the gold he felt ashamed on his act of flocking Olaf. Impressed by the intelligence of Olaf and in order to reward his wit. Lord decided return Olaf back to Francis and let go of his entire loan.

Olaf was very cheerful and jumpy when Lord Harry tied the note for Francis informing him about recent events around his neck and set him off. Olaf was running as fast as he could to Francis. He was very spiritful and barking. surprisingly Francis was also coming to the Lord’s house to get Olaf back as he arranged enough money. Francis saw Olaf running toward him and thought he ran away from the Lord and without giving a second thought to it. He felt betrayed and grew very furious. He shot Olaf with his gun. Silence surrounded the atmosphere. In that very moment, he realized what he had done.

He couldn’t believe his impetuous act as he approached Olaf. The dog was lying on the ground silent and dead. He went down on his knees and saw the letter around his neck.

Reading it…Resenting his act…he sat there crying….

By Nidhi Sharma

NotionEra

Written by

NotionEra

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