A Dog’s story!
There is this Japanese quote that urges one to make something perfect in every detail, symmetric and all, then leave a small portion of it unfinished. It means that there is some room for improvement there. And that’s what makes it a perfect thing to display. Save that in your mind for now!
Let me tell you a story now, a short story. (Based on a true story and all names are fictional).
“There once lived a girl named Charisma(Cher). She is the type who chills, not easily gets offended, easy-going and fun-loving creature. She loves everything that is fun. One fine evening while she was on her way back home she saw a puppy, might be a month or two old. Looked like it half bathed in muddy water, it was chasing some squirrel. Squirrel escaped. Pup turned its attention to some big frog nearby and started chasing it but to no success.
Then it ran after something else. All the time pup put up this happy face, you know, too happy that it appears as if it is the happiest creature in the world. Cher, as expected, got into instant love with it. She took it home, washed it clean and made sure it consumed something before it played.
She named it ‘pup’. Pup was a rocker. It knows how to have fun, rolling down along the floor. running after all things that move, big to small. They both got along. They spent all the time together. She would run after it like crazy half the time and another half the pup would be running after Cher.
It was like Cher met a dog version of herself. They ate together, bathe together and made a mess of everything they see together. They chased cats, rats, squirrels, frogs and whatever that came into their sight. And no animal dared enter their view zone.
They would spend all days playing and get exhausted, falling asleep as soon as they enter the home, would go swim together, go mess up neighbour’s fields and escape.
It’s been all play and laughs and runs for three years.
Eventually, both grew up. Pup is no longer that squealing tiny mess. It grew into big muscular destroyer who not just messes stuff but also breaks them. And Cher grew up too, her character remained the same all the way.
Another fine evening, they were having a race back home and they got to stop in the way, having met with a crowd of people who surrounded what seemed to be some person and a dog. That person died a few minutes ago because of some snake bite.
His dog sat there placing its head on his torso with a sad expression. A look into its eyes and you get drunken in a strong mixture of agony, feeling of loss and whatever sad feeling you can name. But what Pup saw in its eyes is helplessness. That dog was crying over its helplessness to save its master(I use master here). It thinks that it is his mistake for not being able to stop the snake from biting him, for not being able to be there on time.
Pup whose face instantly lit up anyone’s’ face turned sad for the first time in its life along with its friends’(I use friend here). Pup and Cher walked back home sad.
Few days passed with sorrow in their eyes.
The sad feelings fade over from Cher’s face and her face lit as usual full of life, but not Pup’s. It had been present for the first time in its life with something true. Nothing is as true as death and one look into it will make even great people rethink their own life.
Pup now knows what it has to do. Pup now knows who she has to protect with everything it has got. It lost the joy from its face. Pup stopped playing, it insisted they stay home and stick to places it found safe. Pup stopped chasing squirrels, or frogs for that matter. All Pup does is to stay still watching around day and night beside Cher to guard her.
Cher gave Pup time to get over it. It never got over that feeling. Cats started to rule their playground. Cher who can’t stay that way did everything in her domain to make her friend happy. She failed.
She stopped caring about it’s state and made new friends. She can’t stay put. She is someone who lives out there wildly and cheerily. Pup who was never been tied is now mostly seen in chains.
Then, the day of judgement came forth. Cher was home and freed Pup to caress it. One of Cher’s friends came angrily making gestures as to hit her, you know cher did something naughty again. Pup was used to such taunts from Cher’s parents before. But everything changed now.
As Cher’s friend neared her, crossing Pup and hit her, Pup got up fiercely and attacked her friend. Pup was so furious that her friend didn’t survive this.
Pup was put in a room. Cher’s dad decided that they should put Pup down, to kill it. That’s what they do when a dog starts biting people. Cher now torn between anger and pity couldn’t make an effort to stop her father.
Pup somehow escaped the place and ran away. It is intelligent enough to know that it will be killed if it came back. It ran for miles and miles and eventually entered some forest.
It spent a few months there. Meanwhile Cher after losing Pup she loved spent some days in sadness, but eventually got back to her normal state.
Pup was lost, it now knows nothing as to what to do. It lost its vigour to play and its purpose to live, it doesn’t have to guard Cher now. It is totally lost. It knew that it can’t please Cher or make her laugh anymore as it lost its playfulness.
But the stay in forest taught her things, that even it can die someday, that it isn’t just human beings that die.
It saw animals having fun even in the face of constant fear of death. It saw what it meant to live, to live wildly. It made some friends there, learnt to run for life, learnt to hunt for food.
Pup got back the face it used to make, the happiest face in the world. It is now back to what it used to be, back to what Cher used to love, that smiling ever happy playful small pup it used to be.
But it also knew that it can’t go back, can’t go back to Cher after having killed someone.
Pup just wants to play with Cher and have fun just like they used to. ”
The story ends here. Did the story really end here? Does this story have a moral to teach? I don’t know. What should happen after this? Is Pup right in its actions? Is Cher wrong in allowing her father to kill Pup?
Back to the quote: Everything unfinished has room for improvement just like this story. It need not be perfect from the beginning until the end.
By the way, Sigmund Freud used to believe that Dogs can best understand human emotions. And who would want a human companion when you can befriend a Pup. Actually I have a better idea, why not many Pups instead of one.
Dogs are love, after all. And I am putting up a few pics of me with dogs.
