A second heartbeat, by Alfredo Behrens

Pierre Bonnard Atril press — Pierre Bonnard,
Dos perros jugueteando, 1910
Fuente: https://www.meisterdrucke.ie/

The park had once again become Policarpo’s kingdom. Three months after his revolutionary surgery, the thirteen-year-old dog moved with renewed energy, his paws treading confidently on the grass where he had once collapsed.

It was during his walk when Policarpo’s nose caught a scent that made his ears prick up. Around the bend in the path, a cream-coloured spaniel mix was intensely sniffing the base of a plane tree.

Policarpo approached with the dignity of an elderly gentleman. His heart, now regulated by the pacemaker beneath his fur, maintained its reliable rhythm even as his interest heightened. The female dog—Luna, according to the tag on her collar—turned towards him with curiosity.

His name, Policarpo—which alludes to the abundance of fruit that a tree bears—now seemed ironically appropriate, as if this veteran dog were experiencing a new season of fertile life thanks to the technology implanted in his chest.

Luna was younger, with bright eyes and an energetic step. To her senses, Policarpo presented an enigma. The surgical site had healed, but the foreign object beneath his skin altered his natural scent in ways imperceptible to humans yet notable to another dog’s sensitive nose.

When Policarpo invited her to play, his movements carried the slight hesitation of a dog who remembered weakness. The subtle electrochemical signals from his pacemaker created a faint electromagnetic field—potentially perceptible to another animal in intimate contact.

Luna pressed her ear against his chest, perhaps sensing the unnatural precision of his heartbeat—a mechanical constancy where a natural heart would vary with excitement. However, these differences didn’t seem to trouble her. In the direct reality of dogs, he was simply himself: an older male with kind eyes and a peculiar heart.

As the sun began to set, Policarpo trotted home with a lightness in his step that had nothing to do with medical intervention and everything to do with the simple joy of being a dog among dogs once more.

Alfredo Behrens Atril press — Alfredo Behrens holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. He has taught Leadership for top business schools and has published or received awards from Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford. He has four daughters, and with his wife Luli Delgado, he has lived in Porto, Portugal, since 2018. Some of his books can be purchased through Amazon.
alfredobehrens@gmail.com

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