It 's so peaceful in the night during the winter here . Snow slowly but surely drops , along with the moods of those who are without family , food , or shelter . In television shows , we see homeless people in torn up clothes , surrounding a fire kept alive in a fire , and believe it or not , that is usually the case . Every once in a while , if you drive down the right street just after midnight , you will see an old , homeless man settling down on a street covered in snow . Why might this man be of importance to the story ? This man , this scruffy man that is better off dead , is using all of the warmth in his body to keep his dog alive . " Never take anything for granted , " He would tell you . Usually after that , to add a dramatic effect , he would take a sip of whiskey . " Not your food , not the roof over your head , not the clothes covering your body , or your family . Love your family like every day was your last day on earth . " Like every other homeless guy , people tended to ignore him . The other girl of importance to our story was sitting at the end of a table in her parent 's house , enjoying a nice warm dinner that night . It was an interesting dinner , actually . This girl was a vegetarian , so while her parents were enjoying a nice warm steak , she settled for just the salad and the mashed potatoes . This girl , who goes by Jade , can teach a bunch of lessons , which she finds valuable , but really aren 't . " Mashed potatoes , " She would start , and then take a bite . " Are easily the best comfort food out there . Not Cinnamon Rolls , not chocolate or ice cream , but mashed potatoes . Can 't sleep ? Mash some ' tatoes . However , they are best during the winter , really . " People believed that Jade liked to hear herself talk , and that was exactly right . Jade was an interesting human being . She wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up , since she had been working at a pet hospital for the past two years . However , she had just been working at the front desk , setting appointments and what not . She would drive there right after school , almost every day . Jade , although her parents specifically said no , was going to a concert tonight . Not just any concert , a Mellow Greetings concert . They were an electronic and indie band , which were easily the two best genres of music in the world . Jade got her and her indie friends to see this band . Her parents refused to let her go because the show was at midnight , she had school in the morning , and it was snowing too hard to drive there . Walks are so refreshing and stress - relieving , especially when it 's cold . You can think and fix all of your problems on a walk . You can leave the present world behind and fill your head with memories . Sometimes the memories help , only on occasion do they not . Tonight was a big night for Jade ; she just didn 't know it yet . She was going to be out all night . Jade could have easily driven her car , but not only did she fear driving in snow ( and driving in general ) , but she enjoyed the walk . Besides , it was only a fifteen minute walk to the city , anyways . When Jade had almost reached her destination , she passed a grocery store just two blocks before the club where Mellow Greetings was playing . It was snowing hard , and she could barely see , but there was the man . The old , homeless man . Out of the corner of her eye , Jade saw him . The man asked , " Do you have any spare change on you ? " But Jade used her extremely loud music as an excuse to ignore the old man . In fact , because of her ignorance , she didn 't even see the old , dirty dog next to him that was freezing and starving ! The miserable old man took a sip of his whiskey to keep him warm . " Kids these days … " He said . She turned a corner right after seeing the old man . Jade made it to the club where Mellow Greetings was playing , well known as B - 12 . It was sort of a ridiculous name , B - 12 . Vitamin B - 12 , in case you aren 't aware , is the energy vitamin used in energy drinks and what not . The name attracted mostly teenagers that were adrenaline junkies , although there is a bar attached . Just a year ago , they had to switch the bar 's drinks to mainly juices , smoothies , and sodas . The layout and architecture of B - 12 was significant , because not only did it appeal to the teenagers with its new age look , but it was an award - winning building . Every panel on the floor lit up a different color , every color of the rainbow . The ceiling was tall with silver painting so the lights from the floor below reflected easily . Jade didn 't quite take the time to enjoy this . B - 12 was also very well - lit ; the lights were only turned off when a band was on the stage , of course . Oh , the stage . Every band had a different set up that they designed themselves . Some bands gathered the money to set up their stage . A band called Promiscuous got stripper poles , another called Fight Night paid two drunken bastards off the street to fight onstage ( playfully of course . ) Whatever was relevant to the band 's image , they needed to have onstage , and that was just how B - 12 worked . Jade paid the ten dollar entrance fee and walked straight to the bar , requesting her favorite drink , B - 12 's famous strawberry - banana smoothie . She sat there alone and sipped , while a techno band was playing onstage that no one had heard of . They had a somewhat groovy sound that was experimental . Jade thought if the band had lyrics , they wouldn 't be nearly as good . The band , named Water Tower , consisted of two members , with just a keyboard , a drum machine , and a laptop . Continuing to move to the beat and rhythm of the song , Jade stared at the audience dancing on top of the rainbow - lit floor . She heard behind her , " I 'll have what this girl is having ! " It was a yell since the band was so loud , however , it was really loud in her ear . Tracy Garden was the biggest douche of them all . He was going to remain a bachelor for the rest of his life . He knew nothing except for how to play women and how to get them to put out . " Girls , " He would say , sipping from a beer . " Are as easy as coloring books . Once you firmly color the outside with your so - called ' sensitive ' being , it is easier to fill them in after that , if you catch my drift . " " How have you been , Jade ? " Tracy asked . Jade continued to sip her drink , not answering the question . Jade hated him . They ended horribly , Jade found out she had been cheated on , three times ! The last one , Jade doesn 't like to think about . She snuck into Tracy 's house to give him his three month anniversary gift , only to find her best friend sucking him off . This was just two weeks ago ! In films you would only see the guy from his back and the girl 's head moving up and down , in fact , that was actually what Jade would have preferred to see . She saw everything , and she hadn 't even seen Tracy himself without his clothes on . She ran away as fast as she possibly could from his house . Tracy leaned over towards her . He was big and intimidating , like a gigantic English soccer fan . He even had the stupid short blonde hair that stuck up in the front . " I don 't like the ways things ended with us , baby . We need to get back together . " He whispered in her ear . She stared forward and continued sipping , but she gripped the glass so hard it could have broken . " I have my car with me … We could go back to my place . " He continued to whisper . She was shaking with anger . She began to turn red . " Come on , honey , let 's go . I 'll give you what you 've wanted for a while . " He chuckles . Now , this next little occurrence consisted of just two hits . The first hit was loud , and it was Jade taking her half - drunk strawberry banana smoothie and smashing it over his forehead , and the next hit was him hitting the rainbow - lit floor , completely unconscious . Lucky for her , Jade was sitting in the corner of the bar , where no one was really paying attention to . Jade stared at Tracy 's body there on the floor , and he had glass shards sticking out of his forehead . Blood dripped from the wounds , but he was going to survive . It took every ounce of Jade 's being NOT to kick that glass in further and completely kill him . Jade grabbed her bag and her MP3 Player and stepped over the strawberry - banana covered soccer boy , and began to walk out as fast as she could . " Ladies and gentlemen , " She heard behind her . " I 'd like to welcome on to the stage , Mellow Greetings ! " As people began cheering , Jade could hear a scream as she turned the corner to head back home . " Somebody call an ambulance ! " Jade started running , crossed a street , and was behind the grocery store . Not looking where she was going , Jade began running , turned a corner , and tripped right over the old man 's leg . She smacked on the ground face first , and her face dragged along the ground in the snow . The old man screamed in the pain , just being woken up . " What the hell , old man ? ! " Jade screamed . Her headphones popped out of her ears , which also hurt . She got up , hovering over the old man , and from under a blanket next to him , she heard a growl . " … You have a dog . " Jade realized . She felt so guilty . How could she have been so ignorant ? There was a dog , freezing , and didn 't have a home ! " Oh my god … I am so sorry . Here , I 'll go get the dog some food . Do you want coffee ? I 'll get you coffee . " Before the man even has a chance to speak , Jade runs into the grocery store . The automatic doors letting her in weren 't even fast enough for her . She runs by every isle until the seventh isle , and finds food for larger dogs ( she was judging by the size of the blanket ) . She runs back up to the self check - out line , and rings up the dog food . She sticks her cash inside , and runs to the coffee place inside of the store . As she was waiting for the coffee to brew , she saw blankets for sale , so she bought two . One more for the dog , and one for the man himself . As soon as the man working the coffee stand held out the drink , Jade zoomed by and grabbed it . She ran back outside , once again nearly crashing into the automatic doors . She drops everything before him , except for the coffee , which she hands to him gently . While he takes a sip , she unfolds one blanket . She takes the old raggedy blanket off of the dog to put the other one on . This dog was disgusting . It was an old Jack Russell Terrier , REALLY old . This dog looked as if it hadn 't been bathed in ages , and was skinnier than any dog should be . She put the blanket on top of him , and opened the bag of food . She made a cup of food out of her hand , and fed it straight to him . Although the dog was gross , he looked cute with his little head popping out of the blanket . Once the dog had finished what was in her hands , he was content , which was not a good sign at all . Jade unfolded the other blanket and offered it to the old man , and he took it happily . He put it on his legs and said , " Bless you . " He seemed so happy . She sat down in the snow facing him , and the ground was wet . " Tell me about the dog . " She demanded . " Shouldn 't you be getting home ? I 'm sure your parents are worried sick . " He responded . " Hey , I bought you a coffee , some blankets , and a big ass bag of food . I think the least I could get in return is a story before I go to bed . " She said back . " Ten years ago , there was a girl that went by the name of Heidi . She had just turned six , right before her school started . She had dark blonde hair that only went down to her neck , and she liked her hair that way , although all the other girls had their hair long . Regardless of her hair style , Heidi was cute , too cute . " Heidi was beaten at home by her stepdad . Any time he was unhappy or drunk , he took it out on her . Heidi was always told by her stepdad named Howard that if she told her Mom what he was doing , she would be sent away , never to see her precious Mommy again . This made her extremely quiet at school , and she never really made many friends there . " The old man began . " Every day , Heidi walked to school . On occasion , she would stop by a park and play at the playground or play with bugs walking around the sidewalk . She didn 't care what other people thought . " After the second day of school , Heidi did just that . She was playing on the sidewalk , stopping in front of people there just to pick up bugs . The way they squirmed made her giggle . It was such a precious giggle . She stopped once more before she was about to head back home , right next to a big muddy lake . She was able to catch a grasshopper ! She felt so proud of herself . " A girl twice as big as her walked off of the playground , and stepped right next to Heidi . The big girl 's shadow covered Heidi almost completely . She looked up and waved , saying , ' Hi ! I 'm Heidi ! ' " That girl , that snot - nosed brat , pushed Heidi right into the mud puddle , face first . She landed flat ; she immediately came out of the water gasping for air because she had never been underwater before . " " Oh my god , " Jade said . " That 's horrible ! " " But that 's when the dog came in . He was just a wee puppy . He came out of the tall grass and began to bark vigorously at the brat , while she was laughing . Although he was small as a puppy , his bark was loud , and it made the bully jump . She began to walk away . Heidi continued to sit in the water , covering her face as she cried her little green eyes out . " The puppy , covered in dirt and bugs , stepped right into the lake and began swimming towards her . It was such a sight for the adults surrounding the lake . He stepped onto Heidi 's lap , and licked her cheek . Although his breath was bad , Heidi acknowledged that the puppy was just trying to be nice . " Although Heidi was covered in mud , she picked up the puppy and took him to the playground . They became best friends that day . Heidi took him down the slide , which he absolutely loved . After a few times down the slide , the dog began to race her up the stairs and go down the slide himself . " That day , it got dark , and Heidi had to go home . She looked at the puppy and said , ' It was very nice meeting you , I will be back here tomorrow ! ' The puppy insisted on following her , but Heidi made it stay . He whimpered and sat on the sidewalk for the next few hours , just hoping she would come back . " The old man took a big gulp of his coffee . " But there 's more . " The old man insisted . Jade cupped more food and made the dog eat . She wanted to brush his teeth so badly ; he probably hadn 't done it in ages . " Every day after that for the next two weeks was just like that . Heidi would take money from her Mom 's wallet to go to the grocery store to buy him food . She always bought him treats and beef jerky , because she could never choose which dog food bag she needed to get . Before school , she would leave him something in his tall grass dwelling . One day she even brought him a nice blanket to sit in , which is that very blanket you just took off of him ! " Heidi played in the muddy lake with him on some days , and on others she would take him to the playground . She could never take him anywhere else because she did not have a leash and collar . She spent an hour to two hours every day playing with this puppy , and then went home to have dinner with her parents . " Now , after these two weeks were up , she saw him last on Friday , after school . Heidi was happy it was the weekend . She held on to the dog and took him on the swings and went back and forth . The dog was as happy as Heidi was , and they were happier than anyone else in the world . Heidi and the dog sat at the edge of the playground to watch the sun go down behind the mountains , and it was the best sunset that either of them had ever seen . Heidi grabbed her bag when the dark overtook the city , fed the dog , and said , ' I promise I will try to sneak out tonight , to come see you ! ' She kissed his forehead and walked away . Knowing he wasn 't supposed to follow her , the puppy sat there once again whimpering . " The old man continued . " Around ten o ' clock , Heidi was sitting in her room , still stuffed from a fairly big meal . She stared out the window , wanting to go see the dog . She looked down ( since she was on the second floor ) , and saw her Mom getting into the car for her late night shift at the hospital . She put her right hand on the window , saying aloud , ' Bye , Mommy . ' Her Mom smiled and waved back at Heidi , making Heidi happy once again . " Heidi heard from downstairs , ' Oh , Heidi , where are you ? ' She knew it was her stepdad . She insisted on staying upstairs because she was afraid of him , and she usually locked her door . But tonight , he sounded playful . He said , ' Heidi , I have to show you something really funny ! ' So Heidi , not knowing any better , walked right downstairs . She walked through the kitchen , not noticing the five beer bottles on the counter top , and went right into the living room . He was there , with the TV off , smiling at her . She smiled back . ' What 's so funny ? ' She asked . " ' Come here , I 'll show you . ' He answered . She ran over and jumped on top of the couch . She asked again , ' What 's so funny ? ? ' He grabbed her sides and started poking her . ' The tickle monster is ! ' He began to tickle her uncontrollably , and she couldn 't get away . She was laughing so hard and thinking that she could finally trust this man that hurt her constantly . " It began to get scary . She had on her pajama pants because she was about to go to bed . Heidi 's stepdad was tickling her , and she still didn 't see a problem with it . But then , and knowing this still hurts my head today , the stepdad began to tug at her pants … " The old man couldn 't finish . " He tugged at her pants and tore them off of her . She immediately stopped laughing . Heidi 's stepdad had never done this before , and Heidi never felt more wrong . As soon as Heidi 's pants were completely off , she kicked him , right in the drunken pedophile 's nose . He covered his nose , blood coming down and staining his white shirt , and Heidi ran as fast as she could , screaming bloody murder , into her room . She locked the door and grabbed her things as fast as she could . She put on a jacket , some new pants , and a present that she had , just for the dog . " She ran downstairs while he was still covering his nose , and she sprinted all the way to the park . It was a five minute run for her . She could have run to the hospital where her Mom worked , but she felt she would be happier with the dog . She ran to the park and screamed ' Puppy ! Where are you ? ' while she was crying . She sat down on the sidewalk by the tall grass , and the puppy wasn 't showing . She continued to scream for him , and she cupped her face in her hands once again to cry . While her eyes were covered , Heidi heard sniffs . She opened her eyes to see the puppy standing there , wondering what was wrong . " She hugged him as hard as she could , and said , ' I got you something , puppy . ' She reached into her pocket and grabbed a collar , just for him . She put it around his neck , that red collar he has on now , and it was a little big for him . It jingled as he walked . She looked at the nametag on the collar , as the light from the street light reflected off of it . ' Russell , you are now mine and we can be best friends forever . ' " Heidi had a bad idea . She wanted to sleep there for the night , but it was much too cold for her to handle . She told Russell that she was going to sneak home to grab blankets and pillows for them to sleep . This meant going back to the house . She got up and began to go , and she went to a stoplight . There was only one car coming . When the light turned red so the car couldn 't pass , she began to walk . The car … It didn 't stop . Russell witnessed it all from the sidewalk , barking at her to realize what was happening . Heidi looked to her left to see a familiar car , and stopped . She didn 't move , and the car … " The old man began to cry . " The car hit her . " Jade sat there with her mouth open , crying . They both cried together , although Jade had never met Heidi . The story , although not very elaborate or detailed , touched Jade 's heart like Tracy Garden did at one point . " The … worst part is , the car stopped a few feet afterwards , and Russell ran onto the street with his new collar to examine Heidi 's body . He sat there whimpering , and the car door opened . While Russell licked Heidi 's face , hoping she would wake , a set of feet approached behind him . Russell looked up , to see a man he had never seen before , but who Heidi would refer to as ' stepdad ' . He , trying to cover himself , left her there along with the dog . " " I found him the next day , in the tall grass . There was police tape everywhere ; flowers were set down at the stoplight . I don 't know how the mother took it . He was sitting there in the blanket . I picked up and took him with me , and I lost my home around that time . We 've been homeless together for ten years . " The old man explained . " Listen , that was the best story I have ever heard . However , I need to get some sleep ; I have school in the morning . I come by here every day around seven , I could come visit you tomorrow morning before school , and give you some more coffee . Please stay here , I have so many questions to ask you about your story . " Jade insisted . " Of course , child . I 'll stay right here . See you in six hours . " The old man smiled , and Jade got up to leave . She ran all the way home , and all her lights were off . Her parents had just gone to bed , probably because they knew that Jade was fine , and that she could take care of herself . Jade went straight up to her room and stripped down to her underwear to go to bed . Jade fell asleep almost instantaneously , which was surprising ; she had so much on her mind . Jade woke up around 6 : 15 , and jumped in the shower . She went as fast as she could , made herself a decent breakfast , and headed out the door with a coffee mug before her parents could even wake up . She started her little beetle car , and sped down her street towards the city . Completely unhappy , Jade sat there for a bit . She didn 't know what to do . She wanted to see the homeless man more than anyone else on the planet . She decided , then and there , that she wasn 't attending school today . She was going to sit and wait , until her shift at the pet hospital had begun . For the next three hours , Jade had a total of three dollars thrown at her , because people walking by assumed she was homeless . She didn 't mind it . In fact , on the fourth hour , she went inside and bought herself her favorite candy , Good & Plenty . She sat there and chomped on them , which was not that good of a lunch . On the fifth hour , she gave up . He wasn 't coming back , and she just had to accept it . She wouldn 't figure out what happened to the stepdad , or how the Mom took her daughter 's death . She got in the car to drive to the pet hospital , and as she arrived , there were no cars in the lot . This shift was going to be a slow one . She walked inside , and there was no one in the waiting room . She checked herself in , and sat at her desk . There were no phone calls ; there were no appointments to schedule . This was going to be a long shift . About ten minutes in , right after Jade had put her feet up on the desk , one of the vets came out , and called her name . She got up and walked down the hall , the carpet covered in dog hair , the walls unclean . She approached the doctor . " Kinda . There is an old homeless man inside , with a Jack Russell Terrier . The dog refused to get up this morning , and whimpered whenever his owner decided to pick him up . I have to go in there and put him down , but first , can you go in there and comfort the owner for me ? " The vet said . He was tall and distinguished , he looked like the average buff doctor you would see on a drama show on TV . " Thank you so much . " The vet said as he began to walk down the hall to get the proper supplies . Jade opened the door , and the vet turned around . " Oh , and Jade ? You should probably refer to him by his name . " " It 's Howard . " He turned around and went straight down the hall . Jade stood there shocked . How did she not see it before ? How could he have known all of the details of the story without being there ? She walked inside . " Shut the fuck up . " She said . She turned around and grabbed the phone , dialing 911 . " Who are you calling ? " The old man asked . " No please , you have to understand , I know what I did was wrong . I still pay for it today ! If I have to go to jail , please make it after Russell goes away . " He tried to reason with her . She was hesitant , but she hung up the phone . " Sit there and tell him all the great parts about his life . You need to make him feel comfortable . You need to make it seem like everything is okay . In situations like this , dogs panic . They know something is wrong , they can analyze moods very well . " Jade said . " I know . I just want to talk to my dog . " Without saying another word , Jade left the room . She sat at her desk , and the vet approached her . They didn 't say anything for a couple of minutes . Jade was sure the vet wasn 't happy with his job , having to put all of these animals down every day . That is a heavy weight to carry on someone 's shoulders . " Before you put Russell down , let me talk to him one more time . " Jade got up , and walked down the hall . The vet sat at the desk , waiting for her mark . Jade walked out to the hall , calling the vet by his name , and the vet came running with the shot . Jade sat next to Russell and Howard , smiling , holding back her tears . She grabs one of Russell 's paws , while Howard grabbed the other . They both smiled at Russell , until one eye closed , and slowly but surely , the other one does as well . The vet says , " I will leave the two of you in here for some alone time , we will discuss what happens with Russell in a bit . This is a part of our lives ; important people to us come and go . I am so sorry , Howard . I will be praying for you tonight . " He stepped out of the room . There is another silence , only interrupted by Howard 's sniffles . His one and only friend , the only person he could talk to was gone . Jade wanted to cry too , but she held it back . Now she had to be strong for Howard . Jade could not stand this job . This was the final straw . " When he gives that speech , he comes back in fifteen minutes . You have got until that time to run , to hide , to do whatever you need to do to get a head start . I will call the police when the vet comes in . " Jade says . " I don 't forgive you , but I never want to see you again . " Jade said . Howard got up to leave , but before he did it , he gave Jade a big hug . From there , he ran out . Jade sat there for ten minutes , contemplating what she had just done . Ten minutes after she told Howard to leave , she called the police . She informed them that a homeless man by the name of Howard just came by to put his dog down , a dog originally owned by Heidi , whom he attempted to molest and eventually hit and killed with a car . He went north , towards the city .