Here’s my featured entry: It brings us immense pleasure to inform you that you are one of the winners of the June 2024 BTBFolio Writing Challenge.

Thank you team Beyond the Box.

The prompt was the picture attached.

‘Dear Margi’

The air around the Himalayan cliff was invigoratingly crisp, carrying the earthy petrichor and windy murmurs. Eager to move after being cooped up for hours due to relentless rains, I had embarked on this trek while my teammates lazed behind in the retreat.

But…I was lost. My phone died, and fear crept in as darkness approached. I heard a ruffle and heavy panting amidst the cacophony of the breeze and growling thunder. Heart thudding, I inched ahead to see a stray dog sitting precariously on the cliff’s edge.

As tears meandered down my cheeks, the dog stood up, wobbling ahead and I began following it in blind abandon. Dark pregnant clouds hovered dangerously close even as staccato lightning lit up our path and soon, I reached my retreat to the relief of my teammates. The stray disappeared into the woods before I could react.

Later, sipping hot chocolate with torrential rains outside for company, I wandered around the library. A portrait of a dog on a cliff caught my eye. It was the same dog. The mug slipped from my hands as I read the caption.

“In loving memory of ‘Margi,’ the stray who always showed tourists the right path.”

(Word count: 200 excluding the title)