« EVERY NIGHT, HE FED A FOX… UNTIL THE FOX STARTED TAKING CARE OF HIM »
In southern Chile, on the edge of the forest, lives Don Emilio.
He is 72 years old, and it has been a long time since anyone came to see him.
His children have gone far away.
His wife died five years ago.
And since then, every evening, he dines alone.
At last… not quite alone.
A few months ago, a fox appeared in his garden.
Thin, with protruding ribs, the fur dirty and covered in mud.
He was rummaging through the trash looking for food.
Don Emilio did not chase him away.
He placed a piece of bread and some rancid meat at the edge of the lawn.
The fox returned the next day.
And the day after.
Every evening, he would sit a few meters from the house, in silence, waiting for his share of dinner.
They did not exchange a word.
But Don Emilio started talking to him anyway.
He would tell him simple things: the weather, his dreams from the night before, the pain of the day.
The fox ate slowly, looking at him with his judging yellow eyes… then left into the darkness.
Over time, it became a ritual.
One evening, Don Emilio fell in the garden.
He lay there for hours, unable to get up, with no signal on his phone.
He was shivering from the cold.
He thought that that night would be his last.
But then, the fox approached.
He did not stay in the shadows. He did not leave.
He sat down beside him.
He stayed there, motionless, breathing softly, his snout resting on Don Emilio's leg.
He did nothing else.
He simply kept watch.
When Don Emilio finally managed to sit up, the fox did not move until he was sure he was okay.
Since that day, Don Emilio no longer says he lives alone.
Every evening, when he puts the food on the grass, he talks to the fox as one talks to an old friend.
He tells him:
— « You are not my pet. You are my visitor. »
And this, for someone who spends his days alone… changes everything.
Today, Don Emilio is doing better. He goes out more often, he gets up with the desire to see the night fall.
Not because he fears the darkness.
But because he knows that at some point, two yellow eyes will shine between the trees…
and will come to dine with him.
The fox does not know he has become famous on social media.
A grandson of Don Emilio posted a video telling this story, and it went viral.
But the fox does not care about that.
He continues to come, silently, without photos, without asking for 'likes'.
He simply sits, every evening, facing the old man who feeds him, and accompanies him in silence.
Because sometimes, friendship makes no noise.
She breathes just near you…
and waits with you for the night to pass.
