Early this morning I took my dog for a walk.

I was very hungry so I bought my self a little snack to eat until I get home.

Once I finished it, I threw the wrapper on the side walk.

Suddenly someone started talking to me!

I looked around but no one was there…

My dog Billy started pulling the leash so I kept walking, thinking that Billy was angry at the fact that we were standing in the same place for a long time.

I looked around before I crossed the street.

Suddenly the mysterious voice started talking again but this time it said my name:”Tom! Tom! Look down here!”

I stepped back to the side walk and then looked downward hunting for the place the voice came from.

I relised that it came from an unexpected place…

My dog Billy!

“Why did you throw the wrapper on the sidewalk?!” Asked Billy.

I didn’t answer, I couldn’t. I was still terrified from the fact that Billy can talk.

“Why did you throw the wrapper on the sidewalk?!” Billy repeated.

“Tom, listen! Do you know what you have done?”

I didn’t know what Billy was talking about.

“Did I do… something that… bad?” I responded, unsure of myself.

“No” Said Billy. “You didn’t do something that bad… but if many people do that little thing, it turns out very bad.”

Then I realised what Billy was talking about, it was the wrapper I threw on the side walk a few minutes ago.

I was very nervous.

“You can talk!?!?” I asked confused.

Billy didn’t answer as if he didn’t hear my question.

Then, he took a deep breath and said:”I’ve been spying on you for about a month and I saw terrible things.”

“You don’t recycle paper, plastic or glass!” He scolded.

He took another deep breath looking like he nearly started to cry and continued:

“Do you know how many trees we cut down in a year? I’ll let you guess.”

I had no idea so I guessed the most logical number I had in mind:”A million?”

Billy laughed at me, but I heard a bit of sadness in his voice.

“Not even close! Each year 400 million trees get cut down by humans!

Every plastic item you ever threw in the regular trash can will eventually get to the ground and will take hundreds of years to dissolve in the soil.

And if you don’t recycle the glass, millions of years will pass until it dissolves!”

All that time I was standing there with my mouth wide open in shock, I was speechless.

“All this happens because people are selfish, they don’t care about each other and not even about their own planet!

All the wars and conflicts between people or countries pollute the air.”

I stood there nervous and felt ashamed, I was still confused.

One part of me felt sorry about what I’ve done while the other part ignored those feelings.

Maybe Billy can’t really talk, maybe this didn’t even happen,

but what is real and true is that we’re ruining our planet, our earth, our only home!

We must do something to change the horrible future that awaits us. 

It begins from the youngest child to the eldest man, we can all make a difference.

The smallest act can lead to the biggest change!