The little girl carried me all the way to her home. When we were at the gate of her house, her parents saw us. They took one look at me and seemed displeased. As I had mentioned earlier, I am not of good breed and by now I was covered in muck. So it was not surprising that they did not want to keep me. Yet the little girl whose name was Tania, begged her parents and they finally relented.
Before they let me enter the house, I had to be washed in the compound. At first I did not want to get wet. So I kept running away from the tap. But once I was under the cool water, it felt heavenly. Tania gently scrubbed away all the dirt and the stench from my body with a nice smelling soap. Afterwards I was taken inside and fed some milk and biscuits. I finished up all of it while a nice bed was being prepared for me by placing a thick cloth and a pillow inside an old basket. Then she lay me down on my new bed and put me to sleep. My bed was extremely soft and cozy. It reminded me of my mother while I drifted off into deep slumber…
I dreamt about my mother. She was playing with me. She ran ahead while I tried to catch her. But she was running to fast. I was being left behind. I called out to her to stop but she disappeared out of my sight. All of a sudden, I woke up in fear and started to whine. But Tania came and picked me up. She cradled me in her arms and told me not to fear. She said that was there for me and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I fell asleep in her arms, never to be tormented again by the dreams of my past.
Ever since the day Tania brought me home, years have passed and I do not miss my old family anymore. I have become a part of this family now. It took a while for both of her parents to completely accept me but I managed to make a place for myself in their hearts. I won over father by being an obedient dog and following orders. But her mother was particularly difficult to please. Even then I knew that she was tender at heart and sooner or later she would start loving me. One day while the whole family was watching TV together, I climbed up on the sofa and slept on her mother’s lap. Her first instinct was to push me off. But when I licked her hand and looked up to her with what some people call “puppy eyes”, her heart melted and she let me stay that way. After that it has become a routine for me to sleep on her lap while she watches TV everyday and now she does not even mind a little. I am considered to be the second child of the family, after Tania.
There have been times when they have been very angry with me. They have yelled at me or sometimes even punished me. But I have never taken it to heart because I know that sometimes I make many mistakes and as my parents they have all the right to be mad at me and teach me to be a good doggie. Not just that. They also take care of me very well and no matter how busy they are, they always make it a point to spend at least some time with me daily. They never leave me alone when they go away on trips. In fact, they always take me along with them in their car so that even I can enjoy the change of environment. They have never treated me badly. I have heard of some masters beating up their dogs and not feeding them for days. But my parents would never do that to me. They love me as though I am their own son.
Now as I am at the last moments of my long life I look back at it and see that I have nothing to feel bad about. It might not have had a good beginning but the journey was better than just good. I know that my family will miss me when I am gone. But I promise that I will never forget them. I have watched over them always and will continue to do so from wherever I go. I have been very fortunate to have a family like this and I only pray to the God who has given them to me, to bless every lonely and lost dog with a family like mine. I also ask Him to enlighten people to be compassionate and loving towards beings like me because after all, we are the most faithful friends they can ever have.