Pets

By Rithu Prabhu

I had exams until yesterday when my dog Dark went missing. It was 4’o clock in the morning when I noticed that he wasn’t anywhere in the house. I panicked that I hadn’t given him enough food and he passed out because of that. I informed my family and we rummaged through our whole house. I shouted his name repeatedly but he didn’t come. Now I really thought he was unconscious somewhere. Therefore, we again went through places where he used to lie down and sleep. He wasn’t anywhere inside the house. I panicked that he might have run away since we didn’t give him proper food for the last 2 days.

I went outside our house, around our garden and shouted his name repeatedly, but still there was no sign of him. I noticed some posters on our car. I couldn’t see what was written on it since it was dark everywhere. I went inside and came back with a torchlight to see the posters. When I came back to the garden, I felt something ruffling in the bushes. I turned around but it immediately stopped. I thought it to be my imagination and started reading the posters. There were death signs under which was written, “your dog won’t be back anymore”. A shiver went through my body. I read the other posters, which accused me of not taking care of Dark. I burst into tears thinking that I really wouldn’t see Dark forever.

All of a sudden, I heard a soft cry from the bushes. There was someone lying under the thorny bushes. I flashed the torchlight and found Dark curled up. I felt a great sense of relief and hugged him as hard as I could. After noticing that he was limping due to being pricked by the bushes, I called the vet and treated him.

About the posters on the car, it turned out to be my imagination. The immense panic caused me to hallucinate things.

After the incident, I learnt to not neglect my pet and took care of Dark diligently every single day.

This was an eye-opener for me. We should not neglect our pets. If we have adopted them, it is our responsibility to take care of them. We should return the love and care our pets give us.

By Rithu Prabhu