중학교 영어 3 (동아출판 윤정미) 연계 글

Last November, our dog, Kongi, disappeared on the coldest night of the year. For one long night, I was sure that I knew who had let her out.

Two weeks earlier, a new family had moved in next door. Their son, Emmett, was in my grade, but he never spoke to me at school. Every afternoon, however, he stood at our fence and watched Kongi play in the yard.

On the night Kongi disappeared, I was home alone until nine. At eight, I carried the recycling out the back door and through the gate. Then I went upstairs and put on my headphones for a video call. When Mom came home at nine, Kongi's bed was empty, and the back door was wide open.

We searched the streets with flashlights until midnight. On our way home, I saw Emmett outside with a flashlight. I told Mom what I believed: he had opened our gate and let Kongi out. Mom said nothing, but she kept looking at the back door.

The next morning, the doorbell rang. Emmett was standing on our steps with Kongi in his arms. He had wrapped her in his own coat. "I saw her run toward the river last night," he said. "I rang your bell, but nobody answered, so I went after her." He had searched along the river half the night and found her under the old bridge at dawn.

What I felt at that moment was shame. I thought about the recycling, the back door, and the gate, and my face grew hot. Later, Emmett told me what he had missed most since the move: his own dog, Lulu. Their new house did not allow pets, so Lulu lived with Emmett's grandmother. Lulu had the same brown ears as Kongi.

Now Emmett and I walk Kongi together every Saturday. I also check the back door twice every night.