In a bustling street market, noise and color swirl above—vendors shouting, fruit stacked in pyramids, spices thick in the air. But beneath one wooden stall, in the sliver of shadow between canvas and cobblestone, a muddy puppy curls in a cautious ball. His ears twitch with every footstep; his body tenses at the scrape of crates. No one sees him, but he watches them all—alert, waiting, surviving. A little girl drops a piece of bread and walks on. Slowly, carefully, the puppy inches forward, hunger fighting fear.