STREET DOGS
of Society’s Hidden People
A book of the homeless
and the animals they love.
by
Alan Wlasuk
The Quest
Four unlikely travelers turn toward the Great Lake, each drawn by a longing they cannot yet name.
A blind dog who once knew the world only as a rumor. A quiet, autistic boy searching for a place that will hold his silence without trying to change him. An ancient turtle whose patience carries the weight of time.
And a gentle hound sent from the Beyond, called to guide a Quest that softens the boundary between here and what lies beyond.
Together they walk not to become something else, but to discover that belonging, courage, and love have always been waiting for them.
Characters You
Kaden
He climbs—fearless, like gravity is only a suggestion.
Always reaching, always learning what the sky can hold.
Loved—cherished, precious—not because he is easy to
understand, but because he is entirely himself.
His world is his own—quiet, complete, perfectly arranged.
Major
My dog, for far too little time. Major died in my arms—as if my heart could be a softer place to leave the world.
On our walks he lifted his voice to the sky, long, aching howls—like a prayer only hounds know, letting the old gods hear him:
“I am here. I am alive. I belong.”
A sound in the night. A shape at the edge of sleep.
Major still walks with me—in my dreams where nothing truly goodis ever gone.
Patrick
Blind since birth, found in a shelter. Patrick feared everything—smells, noises, even the hand that only meant kindness.
Adopted by a woman who spoke with patience, soft voices, space, time. They waited for trust.
One day he understood—not with his eyes, but with his whole body—he was safe. He was wanted. He was loved.
Slider
Slider lives beneath my dock, in the quiet dark where the water keeps its secrets.Morning and evening he finds me as if we have an agreement older than words.
Blueberries first, always. Then whatever I bring—
vegetables, bits of bread, small kindnesses.
He comes like a ritual, steady and sure—like a dog with shell, loyal in his own slow way, teaching me that love doesn’t have to hurry to be real.