Spooky Read online

along the road which made me realize that might have been the last time I have ever seen my home .After the green fields came the dry parched land with few houses where the truck came to a grinding halt. Before the truck could turn around and go back to my home, I was removed from the top of the truck and was carried by a man who was taller and heavier than my Pet Dad to the backyard of a house, where I was chained to a “wooden” pillar.

  The place was so unclean and dirty; it had lot of bushes which made me scared as I thought snakes and cats who are sworn enemies of dogs might be hiding in these bushes. The mere thought of snakes made me remember an incident from my home in the recent past where my own mother successfully defended us against a Cobra as it whizzed past in the our backyard when our pet mom was not around. After a long time, they released me from the chains and allowed me in the streets; that was the first time I tasted what I thought was freedom but soon I realized it was not the complete freedom I aimed for. I was soon attacked by children on the street so I hurried back into the backyard of the same house to safeguard myself from them. After having some porridge rice which was given in the bowl to me I was again let outside in the dark night. I sniffed around to see whether there are traces of scent of my dad or sister but I was not able to find any, so again I came back to the backyard and slept for rest of the night.

  Day 4

  Due to travel fatigue, I slept immediately that night. When I woke up next morning I thought myself lucky to find some porridge rice and water near me. Though it was very bad, I ate it so fast such that I finished eating all of it within 2 minutes. A lady untied me from the pillar. Once she released me I ran like a mad dog to see whether there is any way to reach my home so that I can reconnect with my family and my sisters too. I went all around the place looking for a straight road with a big tree but I was not able to find any such road in that small town. I searched for Brutus, Spooky and Stacy from dawn to dusk on that day but I was not able to find anyone.

  Meanwhile when I was searching for them, I was also attacked by stray dogs that were older than me as they feared that I would be threat to their food and existence. During one such attack, I was saved by a person who was similar in appearance to my brother; He protected me from the attack by shooing away the other dogs. After that episode they didn't attack me for rest of the day and they even allowed me to come near them and smell their scent. As the sun went down in the evening sky, I hurried back to the house where I again looked for rice porridge but it was not there. Drank some water to full my empty stomach and went back to the sleep again dreaming of my good old days at my home where we had nothing to worry about.

  The only thing that was missing in our home was complete freedom as they didn't allow us to go outside of the house freely. But now I realize why they did like that as there is a possibility of us getting attacked by dogs or being hurt by the vehicles on the road and also we would not have been able to come back to the home if we are lost. I used to get angry when they would deny the freedom but now I have I realized how complete freedom would have destroyed us.

  Thinking about my good days made my hungry as we were always provided with food once the sun went down in the west, here I howled to get the attention of people inside so as to get food, Hearing my cries a lady came out and beat me with the a stick so that I won't howl during night time. Fearing for my safety I slept quietly for the rest of the night in the corner of the backyard.

  Even though a snake whizzed past me I didn't bark or howl as I feared that the lady would come and beat me again.

  Day 5

  The sound of Hens clucking made me woke up early than usual as I always get up very late at my home. Once I was done with my stretching exercises, I went out for a stroll to see whether there is any sign of my father or brother; they usually run in the morning on weekends to a far off place and come back after an hour or two. As I thought they might come here, I started searching for them on the big road.

  But after few hours of searching, I thought it was of no use as there was no sign of my dad or brother today also. When I was about to conclude my search, I saw a mother "Dog" feeding her 6 puppies which reminded me of my own mother. We would be literally fighting with each other to drink milk from our mother. Though nowadays she was sporadic in her visits, she regularly came back to check whether we were being fed properly or not.

  Just When I was thinking about my mother, I heard a sound that was exactly similar to my Pet Dad's Bike, I ran across the street hoping that it must be my Pet Dad and to my surprise it was him. On seeing me he was so happy and uttered my name "Spooky" and asked me to stop running along with him. It seems he came out to look for me and to see how well I am doing. He gave me some biscuits and argued with a lady who was looking after me. After arguing with her for nearly 10 minutes, he started his “bike” stating "Be there"; I didn't hear clearly what he meant so ran behind him till the end of the street. He again turned back and stopped to say "Spooky, Be there, don’t go anywhere”. I took his words to heart and stayed exactly at the same place till he left the village. But many thoughts ran through mind thinking why he uttered the words again and again and I was asking myself "whether he has again left me" or "he will come back again to take me back home?".

  Thinking about that same again and again made me doze off at the same place in the street. I didn't even move an inch as I waited for him to come back and take me to home. Suddenly I woke up hearing noises of a four wheeler being driven to village at some distance. I eagerly popped my head and looked up to see whether it was similar to the one driven by my sister. As the car approached the village I was hoping that it should be my sister and to my astonishment and shock it was my sister and Pet Dad. They took me immediately inside the car and left the village without even giving me enough time to say Goodbye to the Lady who provided me with some food. Though I was very happy to see them back, I was also afraid that they might be dropping off me at some other place. I was crying and questioning them and stopped crying only when I arrived again at my home.

  My mother was not so happy to have me again as she was afraid how they would feed her, myself and 5 others. But my Pet mother was so glad to see me again ;she cuddled me gave a lot of kisses too; They even allowed me to freely roam inside the bedroom and I slept there too for few hours but Buddy, Brutus and Leo was not happy to see me back again. And once they let me in the backyard I was so happy like a mad cat and ran around it for nearly some 50 times; attacking my siblings and peed in my favorite spot too. That was the “happiest moment of my life”.

  I hope no other dog would be in a similar kind of situation again but unfortunately everyday thousands of dogs, cats are being abused everyday and are starving.

  By Shan on behalf of Spooky (My cute girl)