*»Archie… Our Guardian Angel…»*
*»I crowned you… And gave you to no one… Loved you as best I could… And kissed you… Kissed you… Kissed you…»*
Victor soared on wings of love, speeding home on his cherished motorbike to his beloved Emily after three long months away. The crisp pound notes in his jacket pocket warmed him more than the spring air rushing past. His heart sang, racing toward home, toward her. The world smelled of blossom, the breeze soft against his skin.
Thenout of the corner of his eyehe saw it. A dog, thrashing weakly in the icy river, trapped beneath a shattered sheet of ice near a small bridge. The poor creature was barely keeping its snout above water, exhaustion dragging it under.
*»Kissed you… Kissed you…»*the song still played, pulling him toward Emily, warmth, safety. But the dog…
«Bloody hell,» Victor muttered, gripping the handlebars. Emilys smile flashed in his mind. Spring. Love. And a helpless animal drowning in the cold. With a curse, he swung the bike around.
He tore back to the bridge, stripped off his coat, and plunged into the frozen river. The water burned like knives. He smashed through the ice with his bare hands, ignoring the cuts, the blood, the numbness creeping into his limbs. He reached the doga massive, emaciated Labradorand shoved it toward the bank, hauling himself out after.
Shivering violently, he dressed, then finally looked at the creature hed saved. The dog stared back with liquid brown eyes, trembling but refusing to leave his side.
«Blimey, mate… Youre purebred. Whatre you doing out here?» Victor murmured, ruffling the dogs sopping fur. «Wheres your owner?»
The Lab only whined, pressing closer.
Victor grinned and opened the bikes sidecar. «Get in, then. Youre coming home.»
Dusk settled as they neared town. Traffic snarled aheadan accident, a lorry tangled with two cars, flashing blue lights, ambulances. A cold dread prickled Victors neck. He glanced back. The dog, now dry and warm, snored softly in the sidecar, paws twitching in sleep.
*What if I hadnt turned back?*
«Emily, love!» Victor swept his wife into his arms the moment she opened the door, spinning her, kissing her cheeks, her lips. Behind him, the Labrador sat quietly, tail thumping, grinning as if he already adored the tiny woman in her floral dressing gown, the scent of shepherds pie and roast chicken wrapping around him like a promise.
«Oh!» Emily gasped, spotting their guest. «Whos this?»
Victor beamed. «Our guardian angel. Archie. Hes family now.»
Emily knelt, offering her hand. The dog sniffed, thenwith a joyful slurplicked her fingers before showering her face in slobbery kisses.
And so Archie became theirs. Their «Hippo» (for his size), their «little terror» (for the chewed slippers), their «mucky pup» (for the time he bathed the neighbours cat in drool). But above alltheir angel.
Victor and Emily lived in a sturdy brick house in Manchester, left to them by his parents. They built Archie a sprawling kennel in the garden, though he often sneaked inside to sprawl on his worn mat by the hearth. Life rolled onVictor took distant construction jobs while Emily, no longer alone, kept house with Archie… and a secret. Her rounded belly hid a surprise shed yet to share.
Then came *that* evening.
The air hung thick and heavy, summer pressing down as Emily took Archie for their nightly stroll. Shadows lengthened. Laughter and thumping music from nearby youths set Archies ears twitching, his pace quickening.
Thentwo drunk louts staggered into their path.
«Oi, sweetheart! Fancy a laugh?» one slurred, reeking of lager.
Emilys blood turned to ice. Archie growled, straining against his leashuselessly. *The muzzle.* Shed put it on him, the fool she was. Hed never bitten a soul.
A hand grabbed her wrist, yanking her forward
She dropped the lead.
The men had a knife.
Archie lunged, a golden blur. The blade flashed. Again. Again.
Emily screamed, crumpling to the pavement as Archie fell, his fur dark with blood. The cowards fled. The world fell silent.
*»I crowned you… And gave you to no one…»* Victors phone rang as he neared home. Emilys voice was shattered glass: *»The vetnow! Archies dying!»*
He burst into the clinic to find Archie small and broken on the table, swathed in tubes, two vets working frantically. Victor choked back a sob, pressing his forehead to the dogs.
«Dont leave us, son. Not yet.»
A whimper. A flicker of brown eyes.
*He fought.*
Archie came home. He lived five more yearslong enough to nuzzle baby Olivers tiny toes, to guard his family with every beat of his loyal heart.
When the end came, they buried him under the old oak in the garden. Oliver, now four, wiped his tears and announced solemnly, «We need a new Archie. I dont wanna live without one.»
Love works miracles. Its true. Love fiercely. Love recklessly. And never turn away from a creature in needfor who knows? That shivering stray you save today might just save *you* tomorrow.
