[EXT. EMPTY LOT – GRAY MORNING]
He had no name. No collar. Just ribs showing through dirty fur and eyes that had seen too much. A stray dog, alone, curled beneath an old bench, watching people pass without stopping.
Until she came.
[EXT. SIDEWALK – CONTINUOUS]
LILA (16, quiet and kind) spotted him while walking home from school. She stopped. He didn’t run — just looked at her, like he’d already given up.
LILA (softly):
Hey, buddy… you okay?
She knelt. He didn’t move. She reached out with a shaky hand — he let her. That moment… that tiny trust? It changed everything.
[INT. LILA’S HOME – LATER THAT DAY]
Warm water. A towel. A bowl of food. A name: “Chance.”
The dog didn’t understand at first. But when Lila sat beside him and whispered, “You’re safe now,” he wagged his tail — just once.
[EXT. PARK – ONE WEEK LATER]
Chance runs across the grass, ears flopping, tail spinning like a helicopter. Lila laughs, holding a leash in one hand and her heart in the other.
He looks back at her — not scared, not sad.
Happy. Home. Loved.
