This was approximately 20 years back. I was aged 6 or 7 when Bangalore had too many vacant sites on the streets with less people around. I had a neighbor who was elder than me by 4 or 5 years. Me and him used to play with puppies and one day he had a crazy idea.
We waited till the puppy's mother went away and he carried a puppy from a group, told me to follow him and we went to an abandoned half-constructed house building's 1st floor. There were sand and bricks lying around. I had no idea what was he up to.
He told me he likes that puppy and he needs it for himself but will carry that puppy to his home later. He made a kind of square maze with 3 bricks on top of another and placed the puppy inside. It was struggling to come out. He was satisfied that the puppy couldn't come out and told me to leave the building together with him. I couldn't tell him that he is doing a wrong thing as he would bully me.
He went to his home and the picture of that puppy struggling to come out of that brick maze was flashing in my mind again and again. What if he does not set it free later in the day and what if he does not set it free even after the next day? If he really liked that puppy, why didn't he take it to his home right away and why is he making it struggle and cry for it's life? I couldn't take it anymore and decided I am gonna set it free.
I was a 6 or 7 years old kid and I was scared of him. I had to overcome my fears of him bullying me to save that puppy. I ran towards the building, started to climb the stairs to first floor and just then, an aunt saw me and started yelling, "What are you doing in an abandoned building and what if you fall from first floor? Go to your home". I started running back to my home without telling her anything. I hid in my house compound and waited for that aunt to go away. After 5 minutes, I once again went to that building, climbed the stairs and the puppy was still struggling to come out and was shouting at it's peak. I swore a word or two to my so called friend, picked the puppy and left it where it was before we picked it up.
I still don't know whether he went back to check that puppy in that building as I never met him again. I came to know after a week from my other friend that he left town.
I guess Conscience is independent of age and sometimes, you gotta overcome your fear to do something right. Whenever I think about this incident, I give a smile and say to myself you were a little champ out there! :)
