Hungry Puppy Was Bitten by His Mother, Cried in Agony; His Sorrowful Eyes Begged for Rescue
The air was thick with the scent of dirt and decay. The small, cold alleyway where the mother and her pups had sought refuge was far from a safe haven. A torn piece of cloth, a broken box, and the remnants of discarded trash were their only shelter. A small, trembling puppy, no more than a few weeks old, lay in the dirt, whimpering in hunger and pain. His fur was matted with dirt, his eyes barely open, but full of sadness.
He was hungry. Starving. But even worse, the mother, who should have protected him, had just bitten him in a fit of frustration. She was no better off than her pups, emaciated and weak, struggling to survive in a world that seemed to offer nothing but cruelty.
The puppy, his tiny body trembling, looked up at his mother with eyes full of confusion. What had he done wrong? Why had she bitten him? His small body hurt, and the sharp pain in his side from the bite radiated through him. The hunger gnawed at him, and the cold seeped deep into his bones. But it wasn’t just the physical pain that made his heart ache—it was the emotional hurt. The love and trust he had once placed in his mother now felt like a distant memory.
The little puppy’s cries were weak and pitiful, but they were all he had left. His small body wriggled in the dirt, trying to get closer to his mother, desperate for her warmth, for her comfort. But she turned away, her body tense and distant. She didn’t seem to care. She was too hungry herself, too lost in her own suffering, to care for him.
The puppy’s tiny whimpers echoed in the alley, the sound of his sorrow filling the empty space. His big, round eyes, full of innocence and pain, searched the desolate surroundings as though hoping, praying, for someone to come to his rescue.
A faint, distant sound reached his ears. It was a footstep—a human footstep. His ears perked up, and he instinctively tried to get to his feet, his small legs trembling beneath him. But the hunger and pain were too much. He collapsed back onto the ground, too weak to even stand.
Then, a voice—a soft, gentle voice—reached his ears. It was kind, filled with concern. A human had found him.
A woman knelt down beside the puppy, her eyes scanning the alleyway with care. She gasped when she saw him lying there, his body thin and frail, his fur dirty and matted. She reached out a hand, her fingers trembling as she touched the puppy’s tiny, fragile form. His skin was cold to the touch, and his eyes were wide with fear and confusion.
The puppy’s heart raced, and for a moment, he thought the woman might hurt him too. But when she gently lifted him in her arms, he relaxed. His body had never felt warmth like this before. The woman’s scent was comforting, the safety of her embrace something he had longed for but had never known.
“Poor little one,” the woman whispered softly, her voice breaking. She looked at the puppy’s small, trembling body and then at the mother dog, who was still sitting away from her pups, lost in her own world of hunger and confusion.
The puppy, though weak and exhausted, tried to wag his tiny tail. He wanted to show his gratitude, to let the woman know he was thankful for her presence, for lifting him from the cold, harsh reality of the alleyway. But his energy was drained, and his eyes fluttered closed as the warmth of her arms enveloped him.
The woman took a deep breath and stood up, cradling the puppy gently against her chest. She looked at the mother dog, who was now staring at them from a distance. The pain in the mother’s eyes was unmistakable, but she was too consumed by her own suffering to care for her pups. The woman’s heart broke for the mother, but she knew she couldn’t force her to care for the puppies. She had to save the ones who could still be saved.
“I’ll take you somewhere safe,” the woman whispered to the puppy, her voice filled with determination. “You don’t deserve this. You deserve love. You deserve a chance to live.”
With the puppy in her arms, she turned and walked away from the alley, her heart heavy but full of hope. She would give him the love and care he needed. She would make sure he never went hungry again.
As she walked away, she glanced back one last time at the alley, where the mother dog sat, alone and broken. The woman didn’t know if she could save the mother, but she had to try. She would come back. She would find a way to help her too. But for now, she had to focus on the little puppy in her arms. He was her priority.
The journey to a better life had just begun.
e enthusiasts like to lament the slow death of the performance car but there’s one segment of new car that’s even less populous than that. At one point in automotive history, it seemed like there were numerous stylish options. Any guesses?
I’m talking about the wholesome two-door luxury convertible—but you already knew that when you clicked this link. Can’t pull a fast one on anyone these days. But it’s true: Right now, you only have a couple of options from Europe, with one being the brand-new 2024 Mercedes-Benz CLE Cabriolet.
This brand-new model essentially combines two former Benzes, the E-Class and C-Class convertibles, into one, sporting a longer wheelbase and overall larger stature than the previous two-door C-Class, but not as commodious as the E. Recently, I had the chance to spend several days with a base CLE300 model, tooling around sunny, heatwave-stricken Los Angeles. The entire time I couldn’t help but ponder: Why don’t more people buy this class of car?
The Basics
I’m generally of the opinion that cars designed as coupes first and convertibles second never look great as the latter. Take a look at the non-Targa Porsche 911 Cabriolet; wholly homely. The open-air FC-generation Mazda RX-7? Yuck. But the CLE works, aesthetically, top up or down. Particularly down. Its continuous lines and short rear overhang look great and definitely give it a refined, opulent look. Didn’t think I’d have to readjust a personal opinion to “cars designed as coupes first and convertibles second sometimes look great” after a couple of days with a base Mercedes Cabrio, but here we are.
But even if someone is more hardline about not turning cars into convertibles that didn’t start out as one, they probably won’t have many qualms once they sit inside the CLE. My tester’s interior was a very spacious and pleasant place to be, with 40.2 inches of headroom (top-up, naturally) and 55.7 inches of shoulder room up front, and 36 and 48.1 inches of head- and shoulder room, respectively, for two passengers in the rear. Cargo room comes in at a not-bad 9.6 cubic feet, and the rear seat is 60/40 split-folding for a little bit of expansion.
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It felt nice to plop down into the CLE’s soft leather seating with heating and ventilation, and I was surrounded by substantial materials throughout. Mercedes also treats the Cabrio’s leather seats in a special coating that can apparently keep them up to 53 degrees cooler in direct sunlight. Having spent several sun-soaked SoCal afternoons with the top down, I didn’t really notice any substantially cooler-than-normal temperatures.
In keeping with the rest of Mercedes’ lineup, the CLE’s interior is almost entirely devoid of physical buttons and knobs and instead sports a portrait-ways 11.9-inch center screen and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, all running Mercedes’ third-gen MBUX software. On the plus side: wireless Apple CarPlay is easy to pair and fires up quickly, and there’s little lag while navigating through different settings and apps. Downsides include having to get used to very annoying haptic feedback steering wheel controls, the learning curve of knowing how to quickly navigate MBUX, and a screen that’s a haven for fingerprints and smudges. However, just like you get in the SL, the screen tilts with the press of a button to cut out glare, which helps combat bright rays coming in from any angle.
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Driving the Mercedes-Benz CLE300
This being a convertible, there’s some added weight to factor in. Some strengthening was needed to avoid unwanted bending, and the system that retracts and deploys the soft top surely isn’t svelte. However, I was still a bit shocked when I saw the curb weight on this base, 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo variant: 4,288 pounds. That’s heavier than the all-wheel-drive BMW M3, which is a dimensionally chunky and very stiff sedan.
