“Dog Saves Child”
By V. L. Fox
   
Max barked and scrabbled at the door, quivering in excitement.  
	“Would someone let that dog out?” The bellowing voice always made Max whine and cower. If the man was near, that tone of bellow often came before the sting of a newspaper.
 	“Can I go out and play? I finished my homework, Dad.”
	Max paused at the boy’s questioning voice in the other room, ears perked.
	“Oh I suppose.”
Max’s tail wagged and he leapt up to lick Jon as he came around the corner, the taste of a little mustard still on his face from lunch. The little blond haired boy laughed.
	“All right, Max. Let’s play!”
Soon as the door opened Max burst out and danced around Jon. It was always fun playing with the boy. They’d run all over the huge backyard, chase the invading squirrels, and even play fetch. 
Jon’s whistle brought Max to attention, the boy waving one of the dog’s favorite sticks in front of him. “Wanna play? Do you boy?” Jon taunted, waggling the stick before tossing it.  “Go get it boy!”
Max dashed after the highflying stick. Half way across the backyard, a record throw!   
“All right!” Jon laughed and ran over to help Max find the now lost stick.
Max was snuffling in the grass when he heard Jon scream. The boy was on the ground, f broken foot caught in a wasps’ nest, the angry swarm pouring out to attack him. 
Max leapt to the rescue, only thinking about his little master. He barreled into the cloud of wasps to shield Jon with his heavy furred body, barking wildly and snapping at the small enemies.   No bug was going to hurt his master if he had anything to do about it!
The wasps forgot about Jon, instead stinging Max who yelped even more. Those hurt! He wasn’t about to run for it though. Not with Jon in danger.  
The boy was crying into Max’s warm fur while trying to get free from him. The stings he had already hurt more than enough to try getting away from is protector who was still being attacked in his place.
	Though the wasps were worse, Max could still remember the first time the old man hit him with a newspaper. He was just a pup and… well... when you gotta, go you gotta go. Even if it’s on the living room rug.
Jon had held him in his comforting arms and protected him from the angry swats. From that day on the two’s bond had been inseparable. It was only right that Max should return that first favor.
	The swarm was thinning out now, the crying and yelping bringing the whole family outside.
	“Get that dog off him!” Yelled the man, newspaper at ready.
	Max shivered; even that old threat couldn’t make him abandon Jon.
“He’s saving him from those wasps!” Jon’s mother could see that much. “When did this start? Call 911!”
	Everything else happened so fast.  Flashing lights appeared and strange men came to take Jon away. The wasp stings burned so much, Max could only whine as Jon was pulled from under him and carried away in the stretcher. 
“Max!..” The boy didn’t want to leave his best friend behind. The ambulance workers told him they’d take care of the dog.
	Max whimpered painfully. Whatever was in those stings was making it hard to breath. Hard to see what was happening to him. Strange hands picked him up. He was on his way to the vet. Animal rescue people watched over him in his tortured last moments. But the only face in his mind was of Jon. Petting him for a job well done.


When Jon woke up in the clean hospital room his first thought was Max. “Where’s Max?” 
Beside the bed Jon’s parents looked at each other until the boy repeated his question.
“He’s gone, honey…” Mother said softly, tears of relief that her baby boy was all right filled her eyes.
Jon shook his head. “No..”
	“…He saved your life.”
	Father nodded reverently.. “Good boy..”
It must have been the first time Jon’s father had accepted the dog as part of the family, but the boy just cried and remembered his last time with Max. Loyalty and love like his didn’t come around often.
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Dog Saves Child From Bees, Dies From Stings

A dog saved his six-year-old master from a swarm of wasps  by covering him with his body, and then died from the stings, police said on Wednesday. 

Kharon Tolozen was playing with his dog Max in, northwestern Argentina, when he was attacked by the insects, local police told the news outlets. 

The dog jumped and stayed on top of the boy, who was taken to hospital but was declared out of danger after receiving just a few stings. The dog died.

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