Valeria walked towards Don Ernesto with a folder in her hand.
“Legally,” he said, “Delta belongs to the unit… but there’s also the option of retirement due to special circumstances and reassignment for the animal’s well-being. And this…” He looked at the dog, who hadn’t left the old man’s side for a second. “This is well-being.”
Mateo barely smiled.
“Besides, Commander… Delta escaped on his own. Nobody opened anything for him. He broke the cage, jumped the fence, and ran straight to the dock. As if he knew the way.”
Don Ernesto lowered his gaze, stroking the dog’s ears.
“I come to the pier every week,” he admitted. “I sit and watch the sunrise… because it’s the only time I don’t hear explosions in my head.”
Valeria swallowed, with a knot that was not one of authority but of respect.
—Then he smelled it, he heard it… he found it.
He opened the folder and unfolded a document.
—Mr. Ernesto Salgado… as of today, Delta is officially retired from service and assigned to you. Not as an “active” entity or as a “team.” As family.
Don Ernesto didn’t respond with words. He just clutched the paper with trembling hands and hugged the dog as if it were the only real object in a world that had often seemed false to him.
“Thank you,” she finally said, her voice breaking. “I… I had given up hope of ever getting anything good.”
The German Shepherd rested his head on his chest. That same head that had once been caught in a hail of bullets. That same head that now only asked for a home.
Valeria leaned forward slightly, with a smile that was both sad and bright.
“Sometimes good things come late,” he said, “but they do come.”
Weeks later, the Ensenada pier awoke to fog once again. But this time something was different: an old man walking slowly, with a simple leash and a dog by his side, attentive but peaceful.
Don Ernesto sat down on the same bench. The German Shepherd settled down next to him, without a tactical harness, without orders, without sirens.
—Look—whispered Don Ernesto, pointing at the horizon—. The sun, Shadow. It always comes back.
The dog closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and placed his paw on the man’s knee again.
As if to say, “Me too.”
And in that warm silence, between the sea and the light, the past ceased to be an open wound and finally became a memory that no longer hurt.
Because the soldier had returned home.
And its shadow too.
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