Smoke was still rising over the limestone forest when it was found.

Her lower back was burnt, her legs were blackened, and her eyes… the eyes were not looking at anyone. Just to the backpack.

– Hey, boy! —said one of the firemen approaching.

The dog growled, not moving an inch from that place. The backpack was still at its side, covered in ash, with the zipper partially melted. No one knew yet what it contained.

“It doesn’t bite,” said someone from the village. It’s from Dani, the kid who climbed to the top every day with his dog. They’re inseparable.

Dani was 14 years old. He had disappeared the day of the fire. No one knew if he had been trapped or if he was among the evacuated. But the dog, called Bruno, did not move from that clear on the top of the mountain.

There were signs that something terrible had happened. The trees were down. There were leftovers of clothes, a bottle of melted water, a half-burnt notebook next to the backpack. But Bruno stayed there, not allowing anyone to come near what he had protected with his life.

It took two days until they dared to open the backpack. Inside they found a sketchbook, a case with markers, and a crumpled note with teen letters:

“Mom: If I don’t go down, take care of Bruno.” He will know how to come back alone. I’m fine just tired. I’m staying here until they come. I love you. ”

The note was dated the same day the fire started. And although rescue crews combed the area, they didn’t find Dani’s body.

But Bruno does.

Three days later, he went down the mountain alone.

He had the sketch book in his mouth, now it’s completely dry. He left it at the door of the school Dani used to go to every morning. Then he lay down on the bench where the boy was waiting for the bus. And he waited.

The media was echoing. The “sentinel dog” they called him.

But to Dani’s mother, Bruno was something else.

—He is her keeper — he said with tears in his eyes—. He doesn’t want us to forget that his soul is still up there.

A week later, Dani’s body was found thanks to sketchbook. One of them showed the exact clear, with a sign: “my favorite place.” There he was, next to a burned log, covered by removed soil, as if someone — Bruno himself? — I would have tried to protect him from the flames.

No one could explain how the dog survived so many days alone, without water, without food. But he did.

Today, a plaque in the woods reminds Dani:

“Here I dreamed of being a painter. Here he rested. Here he waited for his best friend. ”

And next to it, another smaller plaque, engraved with footprints:

“Bruno. The one who never gave up. ”