Feeding street dogs in the monsoon rain,

The Story Behind This Image

Biscuits for the Regulars

Every monsoon evening she feeds the street dogs — the regulars, she calls them, though they were strays long before she named them. Tonight the rain is sideways and the river is up, so she stands in the old stone doorway in her grey hoodie and leggings, hair plastered to her shoulders, waiting for the brave ones to dash through the downpour for their biscuits.

One tear slides down her cheek. It's not the dogs. It's everything — the week that took too much, the phone call she keeps replaying, the way the world keeps asking her to be fine. The dogs don't ask. They just show up, shake off the rain, and look at her like she's the best part of their day.

Serene, the prompt says. And in this doorway, with the river fog and the faithful regulars, it almost is.

• Pose: Standing in the stone doorway, half in shadow, gaze on the rainy river
• Photography: Vertical 4:5 dawn portrait, pale light through fog and rain
• Mood: Serene tears and tenderness — kindness as shelter