Some Cast Me Aside Like Weeds, Others Treasure Me Like a Jewel

This is a fictional portrait of my little dog’s life with me, inspired by my own life with my dog.

Love often comes with a sense of guilt. My little dog was called Lele. She was a stray, and had been living on the streets since she was only a few months old. Luckily, one of my friends found her. I’ve always loved dogs. I still remember the first time I saw her: her eyes sparkled as if they were glowing, and she was a tiny, fluffy white thing. I fell in love with her on the spot. I was still in elementary school then, and knew nothing about taking a dog to the vet or treating her illnesses. All I could do was give her the very best of everything I had. She followed me to school, and one day, curious about a car, she ran after it. Afraid she’d get lost and not know how to find her way home, I chased after her. Thankfully, I caught her. I thought that as long as I had her, we could be together forever. But time flew by. I was in college now, and she no longer stood proudly among the dogs as she once had. She spent most of her time sleeping, only going out now and then to breathe in some fresh air. I thought she had just gotten lazy. I never imagined that she would grow old, too. She passed away this year. When I heard the news, I didn’t know what to do. The tears came first, but I had no idea where to go from there. My older sister said she’d been hit by a car and had come home afterward, but then she disappeared and couldn’t be found again. To this day, I still haven’t found her body.

A dog’s life is short, and her world is small, so small that you’re the only person in it. She doesn’t know what an owner is; she only knows that when you choose her, she feels as happy as if she’d won the lottery. She doesn’t have to worry about the swamps outside, and is perfectly content curled up at your feet.