Three days passed, and still, there was no sign of Lola. No texts, no tips, no sightings that amounted to anything meaningful. Pedro tried to stay hopeful, but each day that passed without her little leaf-in-mouth arrival felt heavier than the last. The silence was becoming unbearable.
Early the next morning, Pedro left home earlier than usual. With a rolled-up poster in hand, he visited every shop near the campus—cafés, stationery stores, convenience marts—asking the same question: “Have you seen this dog?” Each reply was a shake of the head, an apologetic smile, a soft sorry, no.