The paws of compassion

Title: The Paws of compassion

Description: Rajesh, a charming yet self-indulgent hedonist, stumbles upon an unexpected discovery – a lost and endearing canine companion. Little does he know that this chance encounter will set him on a transformative journey. As he navigates the joys and challenges of caring for the missing dog, he begins to unravel the deeper meanings of love, loyalty, and companionship. In this heartwarming tale of self-discovery, "The paws of compassion" explores how a furry friend can lead us to discover the true essence of relationships and the profound impact they have on our lives. Join Will as he learns to embrace selflessness, trust, and the beauty of living in the present through the unwavering devotion of a four-legged friend.

Language: English

Genre: Life-changing ,drama,comedy.

Book type: Fiction( Self-help)

Chapter-1

Her eyes met mine again, and she was looking disappointed. “Look I told you that I don’t want to be with you anymore!” I annotated.

She leaned forward. “But until last week you were saying that you were deeply in love with me.” She was fair with brown hair and her eyes were framed by mascara. She wore a short dress with a fitted waist and skirt that flared into A-line.

I walked a little further away from her “That was last week, OK?”

“Please Rajesh, don’t break my heart. I love you very much.” She blocked my way and said, with watery eyes.

I stood there with an incapable look on my face, “Priya, why don’t you understand? I hate being in relationships for long terms. According to me, love is just for pleasure. After I get what I want, I get bored with the girl.”

Priya and I had dated for a few days, and I had lost interest in her quite some time ago, but she was haunting me like a bad dream.

She tilted her head to one side. “Then why did you say that I am the most beautiful girl on the planet? That my eyes resemble stars and that you love me very much?” Her eyes appeared to be inflated out of her skull.

Her pleasing mannerisms was annoying me because I didn’t trust in love. According to me, love is only a pleasure-seeking instrument between two opposite sexes.

“Come on Priya,” I laughed. “Really? You have taken those words seriously; those are my pickup lines for having sex.” I clarified. She walked close to me and touched my hands.

“How could you use my body for your lust? You would have realized if you had loved and trusted somebody.”

My phone buzzed and it was Preethi. Priya’s eyes were on my phone.

“One sec, please.” I then moved a little away from Priya, to avoid her listening to my conversation. “Yes, Preethi,” I whispered.

“Why are you not picking up my phone?”

I took a pause. “Why should I? I told you that I want to break up with you.”

“You said that over the phone only,” she yelled.

“So, what else do you expect from me?” I said. “Do you want me to convey it standing on the top floor of Eiffel tower?” I laughed.

Preethi seemed lost. “Burn in hell,” she said and hung up.

I walked back to Priya who was still crying. “Priya, I have work. I got to go, OK? I am late for my college.”

She looked at me sideways. “Please, Rajesh, I can’t live without you.”

I shoved her upper arm playfully. “Don’t worry; you will get used to this,” I smiled and tilted my head.” You will find a better guy than me.”

She then obstructed my way again and said “How could you break my heart, Rajesh? I am a living being, not a machine,” she cried. She wrapped her palms around my jaw. “How could you do this to me?” she said staring into my eyes.

How could I explain to her that I was not interested in her anymore? According to me, love and relationships were just a physical desire, and I had lost interest in her.

“I am telling you one last time clearly. I have lost interest in you and I don’t require you anymore,” I explained.

“Please, Rajesh” she held my hand. I pushed her, “Don’t try to touch me; I told you that love is only a pastime for me” I pointed my finger towards her indignant face.

The air left my lungs.

I walked away from her, down to the road, towards my car. I sat in my car, rolled up the windows, and turned on the music. The reason I broke up with Priya and Preethi was that I did not want to be in any relationship and I believed firmly that apart from sex, there is nothing to be happy about in a relationship. I wondered how they would react if they had dated me for more than a month. The real reason I dated them was that I liked their cuteness and curves very much.

My mobile buzzed again, and it was Shruthi. Unfortunately, she was my one-night stand. I cut the call, but she called repeatedly. I threw the mobile on the seat next to me. I turned on the engine and glanced at Priya, who was still staring at me. I slammed the accelerator.

After driving a few miles, my phone started repeatedly buzzing with Shruthi’s calls. I exhaled; I picked up the phone with much dithering. “Hello,” I said with a changed voice.

“Hello Rajesh, is that you?”

“No, I am Rajesh’s friend,” I continued in the changed voice. “Can I talk to Rajesh, please?”

“Rajesh is dead.”

“What happened to him? “She said worriedly. “But how?” “He was bitten by a dog.”

“Dog?” she took a pause. “How is that possible?” “It was a mad dog, unfortunately.”

“Really?”

“And also, that dog had Ebola.”

“I can’t believe he is dead,” she said and hung up.

I didn’t know why she hung up. I thought either she must have panicked and rushed to the hospital for her diagnosis or she must have understood the seriousness of her situation and feared her death too.

I had gone back to my college, which was on another side of Mumbai city. It took me two hours to reach there. After parking my car, I sprayed some deodorant on my body and adjusted my hair while looking into the rear mirror. I called my friend and went to class.

I was listening to the lecture in class.

“So, what’re your plans?” Mukesh muttered, in the middle of the class. Mukesh was my only friend in college. He was just like me: He was not a topper of the class and had scored only sixty percent aggregate in the first year. He was average-looking and of medium height.

“You mean tomorrow?” I whispered back. “Yes.”

I kept my hand on my mouth.” I have applied to a university in New Jersey, let’s see; I will go, for sure, for my MBA.”

“I forgot to tell you, your ex called me yesterday.” “Ex?”

“I mean Rumi,” he said. “She was crying badly and said that you are not picking up her phone calls.”

“Oh God, these girls! I told her clearly that I don’t want to talk to her again.”

“Dude, you are such a heart-breaker; you flirt with every girl and make her sleep with you. Could you please tell me your secret?”

I looked sideways.” I don’t have any secret, dude. I do not believe in relationships. For me, a relationship is just a physical pleasure. After fulfilling the physical desire, I lose interest in that girl.”

“I have been observing you for three years,” he mumbled. “OK, leave the topic. Would you like to come to the bar late at night?”

“No buddy, sorry. I have work.” “As you wish,” I said

In the hours of darkness, I visited my regular bar and boozed until eleven-thirty. I was very drowsy and hungry. The sad part about that bar was that you couldn’t eat over there. I turned to look at the bartender; he was busy distributing alcohol to other customers. I gripped my glass tightly. I saw sparkling drops in my glass and smelled alcohol in the air. I waved my hand at a bartender; when he came, I asked for a refill. The bar was filled with customers who were having alcohol, just like me.

“Can I have the check please?” I said to the bartender.

Behind me, there was a bunch of people and girls who were busy chatting and a few were deeply drowsy. A group of a few girls was fagging in their table; among them, one of the girls was looking hot, and I felt like talking to them. They wore short skirts, which tantalized me to approach them. I could hear them all talking about their college. They all would be in the early twenties. After a few minutes, I felt like having a smoke. There was loud music playing at the bar.

I tapped the person who was behind me; “Yes?” his voice was breathy.

“Can I have the lighter?” I said, and put my cigarette between my lips.“Sure,” he said and gave me his lighter. I lit my cigarette, gave the lighter back, and then paid for the drinks.

My cigarette was dancing between my lips. When I stood up, I felt like I couldn’t stand without help but I managed to do so myself. I walked like a blind man to my car and got in with difficulty. I rolled down my windows. Even though I was drunk, I was not afraid of driving a car. It was not the first time I was driving my car after drinking alcohol. When I was driving on the streets, I felt like having sex. I searched for prostitutes on the street and looked carefully on the footpaths.

Suddenly, I saw a girl who was shining like a golden trophy standing on the pavement. I rubbed my eyes and surveyed her from top to bottom. She wore black tights with black boots and had long hair; she was hot with a terrific figure but her face was blurry. But I didn’t worry about her looks because all I wanted to have a girl at that moment. She looked at me when I stopped in front of her. I thought she must be a prostitute. I rolled down the window after halting in front of her. The street was calm.

I waved my hand towards her with a smile, and she smiled back at me. I thought she was positive towards me.

“Excuse me; do you want a ride?” “Ya, sure” she replied.

“Just get into the car” I smiled at her. She walked towards my car and sat beside me.

“You look hot,” I said, “Hoooooot.” “Thank you.”

“What do you say; shall we go back to my place and have fun”?

“Sure,” she said. I took my jacket off and wrapped over her shoulders.

“You must be feeling cold,” I mumbled.

She blushed. I touched her cheek; it was soft like silky hair.

She wore no makeup. I accelerated and hit the roads. “What do you do?” I said and turned towards her.

“Nothing” she replied. “I am feeling hungry. Shall we go to a restaurant?”

“Sure,” she said

I halted my car in front of the restaurant and looked for the parking valet. He walked up to me and took the car. We both stepped out of the car and started walking towards the restaurant’s entrance. I saw the neon lights of the restaurant. The breeze became stronger and I could hear street sounds drifting up. She held my hand; her palm was warm and smooth.

“By the way, you didn’t tell me your name.”

“Golden Lilly,” she said with a smoky voice. She paused a second before turning her head to look at me.

“Wow, very sexy” I complimented.

Everyone around me was staring at us mysteriously as if we both belonged to another planet. A tall, muscular person walked up to me. “Sir, you are not supposed to bring her into the restaurant.”

“Come on man, don’t be racist,” I said and gave him extra bucks. Then, he smiled at me. When I walked inside the restaurant, there was no one. I thought maybe it was closing time.

A waiter walked up to me and said: “Sir, last order.” He gave a surprised look at Golden Lilly. “It’s OK, she is my lady,” I said and turned towards her, “For today.”

I ordered soup and noodles and told him that we would eat from the same plate. The waiter tilted his head at me, confused. “How romantic,” she said.

“I know, Baby.”

The waiter brought the soup along with the chicken noodles after a few minutes. We both drank soup from the same bowl and had noodles from the same plate. The rest of the waiters started glancing at us bizarrely and were looking at each other, smiling. I wondered what the reason behind their staring was but later thought her dress might be the reason. I liked Golden

Lilly very much because she kissed me on my cheek and ears many times. I was chewing my bite, “It’s delicious” she said.

I turned towards her, “Really” I said and then took a bite from her mouth with my hand and had it and said, “Oh yes, it’s nice.” After finishing dinner, I noticed there was a noodle behind my lips and I tried to lick it, grappling with my tongue.

“Let me help you” she murmured. “That’s so romantic.”

She then licked on my cheek and ate the piece of noodle. I then glanced at my plate, and I was surprised to see that it was empty.

We were driving emphatically away from where I’d come from. I passed closed shops and commercial buildings. I turned on the music in my car and we both sang and shook our bodies for a song called “Who let the dogs out.” We both barked together. She sang very nicely and mimicked her voice just like a dog. I went through the city with no direction; even though my mind was jiggling, I managed to drive without any breaking traffic rules. My only fear was about cops checking for drunkards.

We both stopped on the seventh floor and the lift’s doors opened with an affected whoosh. By the time we reached my apartment, I was sweating. After unlocking my apartment door, I welcomed her as if she was a big guest for me in the house, bowed my head, and said: “After you, my lady.” She then walked into my apartment and came into my bedroom with bare feet.

“I like it,” I shouted. I closed the door quickly, locked it, and howled like a fox. I removed my shoes quickly and became half-naked. Then, I took out a vodka bottle from the fridge and had a few sips.

“Hey Lilly, would you like to drink?” I shouted.

“No, I want to enjoy every moment of this night,” she shouted back.

“Oh my God, I like this girl. I wish every girl was like this,” I said.

Lilly and I shared a bed that night. We lay there in silence. I had another peg of vodka. She swirled her drink and our glasses touched. I think she had an idea of what I might ask next. I lit a cigarette, smoldered for a second, and blew smoke on her face. She watched the smoke leaving my mouth. I flicked the ash in an ashtray behind me. Her matching nail polish and lipstick allured me. It was cold, and Golden Lilly relinquished my hand. I didn’t know what she was thinking; I didn’t know what she was trying to say. I moved closer to her and we pulled blankets up to our chins. But unfortunately, I sank into a pleasant sleep. I lost my consciousness and didn’t remember what happened after that.

Chapter-2

I was in bed. I blinked, letting my eyes focus. I had a blurry image of someone who was exhaling and inhaling excessively on my face and I thought it must be Lilly. Her face glimmered; I rubbed my eyes and looked at Lilly, who behind me, carefully. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Lilly; it was a dog. I jumped away from my bed and shouted: “Oh my God, what the heck.”

The dog had golden hair. It came out from the bed sheet, shook its body, and barked. I blinked, staring at the dog; it was a sturdy, muscular dog of medium size with short ears and a straight muzzle.

“Hey bloody dog, how the hell did you come into my house?” I yelled and hid behind the chair, in fear. The dog barked again and licked its mouth. I thought it must be Lilly’s dog. I ran up from there, half-naked, and searched for Lilly by calling her name. I couldn’t find her and so I went to the main door; surprisingly, it was locked from inside. I thought for a while and understood that golden Lilly was not a girl. Indeed, it was a dog! I rubbed my face, trying to gather my thoughts.

“Oh, my Godddddddd…” My voice sounded profuse, and I was in trauma. I ran into my bathroom and imagined how I had kissed its mouth and how I had shared food from the same plate. I washed my mouth with shampoo, mouthwash, and toothpaste. I looked myself in a mirror and made a crying face, “I kissed a dog and ate food in the same bowl as him; how could I do that?” I repeatedly spat my saliva in the basin.

After washing my face and mouth superfluously, I felt exhausted. I was back in my bedroom with so much fear because I was afraid that I would catch some disease. The dog was sitting in the middle of my bed and staring at me silently.

“Hey doggy, get down from my bed” I whispered and waved my hands. It didn’t move an inch and glanced at me blinking its eyes. My mind sparked with an idea, reminded about the biscuits in my fridge. I rammed towards my fridge, took out the biscuit packet, and thought to shut the dog in a room. My flat was a three-bedroom apartment; so I started keeping biscuits on the floor in front of the dog and continued to another bedroom. The dog jumped from the bed with a coughing sound. When it stood, literally, the dog was around two feet in height and must have weighed around sixty to seventy pounds. The dog started eating the biscuits on the bed and then, it walked out of my room and continued eating the cookies until my second bedroom. The moment it entered the bedroom, I closed the door hard. The smell of the dog was in the air and I would not say I liked it. I went downstairs and told my apartment’s security people this but they hesitated to take the dog, due to fear. Then, I decided to buy a dog chain to throw that dog from my apartment. I rushed to the nearest pet shop and bought a long chain.

When I went back to my apartment, the dog was barking from the room. I was afraid to open the door, but I dared and finally cracked it open. That dog was on the bed as if it was her bed; the fur of the dog was in the air. She walked to me, and I thought she would attack me, but instead, she started licking my foot. I stood there like an electrocuted person, for the next few minutes.

It then sat in front of me, looked at me raising her head, and budged her tail repeatedly. I thought that maybe this dog was not violent like other street dogs; surprisingly, it was friendly. In my childhood, we had a dog in my uncle’s house and I knew about the behaviour of dogs. I went to my fridge and thought I’ll feed it some milk while tying the belt to its neck. I took out the one-liter pack of UTH milk and then poured it in a bowl. When the dog was drinking milk, I knelt slowly and tied the newly bought chain to its belt.

The dog drank one litre of milk without a halt. When she was busy licking her mouth, I slowly started walking with that dog from my apartment and stepped down, to the cellar. Initially, I thought of keeping the dog in the trunk but later thought it would die due to suffocation. Reluctantly, I made the dog sit in the back seat of my Mercedes. After closing the back door, I rammed towards the driving seat. I turned on the engine and looked at it from my rear view mirror, and it was still staring at me. I drove a few miles away from my house and halted my car in front of a park. I took the dog out from the back seat and unleashed her from the chain, a little away from my car. The dog started peeing o the grass; I looked around me, and everyone was busy in his or her work. Then, I went back quickly into my car and drove fast, away from that dog.

I exhaled with relief after going back to my apartment. I washed my hands incessantly, imagined again how I had kissed that dog previous night and felt disgusted. I took a long and hot shower.

After a while, someone rang my house bell. I went to the door, rubbing my hair with my towel. When I opened the door, four men, around thirty years old, wearing blue t-shirts were looking seriously at me.

“What do you want?”

“We don’t want anything; we just want to give you back your dog.”

I became frantic.

“What dog? I don’t have any dog.”

Then, they showed Golden Lilly to me, she moved her tail and licked my foot. “It’s not my dog.”

“Sir, please don’t lie. We were there when you left your dog.” “Who the hell are you to ask me?” I said and stretched my full-sleeved shirt.

They all glanced at each other. “I knew you would ask this question,” his hand reached into his pocket and he gave me his identity card.

“Member of Animal Care” I read from the card.

“Yes, we are all members of Animal Care. Just take your dog or else we will file a case against you for animal cruelty,” he said menacingly.

“What if I still say no?”

“I knew that you would say this; that’s why I recorded your video clipping on my mobile. I know plenty of dog owners who leave their dogs in the streets, without any concern.”

I gave back his ID card and reluctantly took Golden Lilly into my house, with great disappointment. I did not know what to do and thought about different ways to get rid of that dog. The smell of the dog made me puke. It sat back a little, glancing at me silently.

After having breakfast, I called my friend, Mukesh. He picked up after a few rings and spoke in a husky voice.

“Dude, I am in big trouble,” I said hastily.

“What did you do this time? Did you find a drunken girl in your bed when you woke up?”

“No, I found a dog in my bed.”

“What?” he shouted and laughed. I explained everything about my previous night and how I was stuck with that dog. Instead of showing concern, he started laughing at me.

“Dude, please don’t tell me that you had sex with that dog.” “Mukesh, please, man!” I appealed.

“Is it a male or a female?” “It’s a female.”

“Oh my God, I can’t stop laughing. I can’t believe you had to sleep with a dog.”

“Please, man.”

“I don’t know anything about how to stop pregnancy in dogs,” he laughed again.

“Dude, stop it.”

“What if you had a baby? How would it look? Let me guess, the baby would have a face like yours and the body would be like the dog. You could become famous after that”, he said and continued laughing.

“I am hanging up, dude.”

“OK, OK. I was kidding”, he calmed down. Then, I explained how

I was trapped with that dog. He then gave me a suggestion to hand it over to a police station as a missing dog. I then thanked him for the advice.

At 1:00 p.m., we reached the nearest police station. Everyone ogled at me as if I was the trainer of a sniffing dog. Lilly sniffed all over the ground when I was taking her into the police station. I waited for a while to register a complaint. I had never been to a police station until that day. I felt horrific and looked at Lilly; it was sitting behind me as if I was its owner for many years. I felt annoyed when her body touched my legs. I looked at the criminals who were in prison behind the iron bars. One of the prisoners winked and gave me a flying kiss. I felt pathetic after seeing that. Everyone was busy in his or her serious discussions. A constable was playing a game on his mobile instead of doing work; he glanced at me and waved, asking me to come. I walked up to him with the dog and sat in front of him.

“What do you want?” he said, playing the game on his mobile.

“Sir, I wanted to lodge a missing complaint.”

“Hold on, I am about to finish the last level,” he was completely involved in the game which he was playing. He was slamming both his thumbs repeatedly on the mobile; the mobile was dancing in his fingers. He tilted his head from right to left and from top to bottom, along with his mobile. I heard the screaming sounds of chicken and guns firing. The sounds of dying chicken was scary.

“You bloody chicken, you will die for sure today,” he said with wide opened eyes. He was completely indulged in the game and was shouting for every kill.

I looked around; there was a big Maharashtra state map on the wall behind him and a few criminals’ pictures in a wooden box beside me.

A throaty voice said, “Game over.”

I felt a weird mix of anger and disgruntle inside me. I was suppressing my anger on the dog, which was sitting close to me, and on the cop, who was testing my patience levels. I hated myself for being there and hated that dog, which was a complete disappointment.

He took out a book from his drawer and started writing. “Tell me the name, height, weight, color, and the day of missing.”

I leaned forward “Sir, wait for a second.”

He halted writing and glanced back at me.” What?” “I came here to hand over the missing thing.”

He then grumbled at me,” Then where is that missing person?”

“Sir, it's not a person, it’s a dog” I half-smiled.

He tightened his jaw, “What do you think of the police station, huh?” He then stood up.

I raised my head “Sir, I found a missing dog and I wanted to hand it over to you.” He then scanned Golden Lilly behind me, which was close to my legs

“But it looks like your dog, “he said, “Because it is very close to you.”

“Sir, believe me. It’s not my dog.”

He thought for a moment and sat back in his chair leaned on his chair and locked his hands above his head.” Ok, I will file a missing dog complaint, and I will inform you if I get any inquiries.”

“So, can I leave it here?”

He threw his pen on the table. “You must be kidding; we are not a dog centre to give shelter to missing dogs. We don’t even have a place for our prisoners, where will I find a place for a dog?”

“But, Sir.”

“Until I get an inquiry, the dog will be in your custody.” He then looked at the dog. Lilly blinked her eyes glancing at him. “What a cute dog.”

He seemed to like her.

“You are the only person who visited the police station to complain about the missing dog,” he said, “So, what do you say?”

He smiled, scrolled through his book and waited for my answer.

I reluctantly agreed for his proposal. He told me that he had to take pictures of the dog. He then took me to a place and made me stand behind the dog in a dimly lit room. He then told the photographer to take our pictures. I held the dog close, gave our pictures in different postures, and felt like I was a criminal who had committed an offense.

After the photo session, he told me that he would call me back when he got an inquiry about a missing dog. I was deeply disappointed with the solution, which he gave. I felt like I was trapped with that dog with no option to get rid of it.

Chapter-3

When I came back home, I felt very annoyed about the dog. I reluctantly fed her food. After brushing the teeth, I went back to my room, and surprisingly the dog was on my bed, waiting for my arrival like my girlfriend.

“Hey, doggy get out of my bed,” I said pointing my hand towards the floor.

She jumped down and then stared at me silently.

“Disgusting”, the dog’s breath smell was weird.

I turned off the light, rested on the bed, and was thinking repeatedly about the dog.

“How can I get rid of this dog?

“How?”

“It seems finding her owners might take a lot of time and I can't handle till then”

I turned on the lights

“Wait a second, it's not my dog and why do I have to suffer?”

I looked at her; she was glancing at me excitingly.

“Come on doggy, time to leave now”

I took her out of my apartment and said, “Did you see the staircase; you can go down and be happy and live where ever you want”

She winked her eye.

I leaned on my knees and said, “You don’t belong here, understand. I am not your owner and you are not my property. Ok”

She barked.

I gone back to the apartment, locked and then gone back to my bed, turned off the lights. I felt like an achier.

“It was so easy” I laughed like an achiever.

I release some kind of vocal sound through my mouth as a sign of relief.

I heard the same vocal sound of mine behind me, I turned the bed lamp. It was the dog.

“How did you get in?”

She licked my face.

“Get down from my bed” I yelled. She got down and I slept unwillingly.

That cold night, I was watching a cricket match between India and Australia. My legs were stretched on my recliner. There was a big tub of popcorn behind me on the table with a beverage in my hand. I gave her a name, which was Lilly. She was on the floor, busy licking her body. I was glancing at my popcorn tub and crushing the snacks with my teeth. I heard a commentary on “Six” on the television. Even I shouted “six” and then threw some popcorn on Lilly. Surprisingly, she ate all those popcorns, which were on the floor. I then took the box of fried chicken. I was about to keep a piece in my mouth when suddenly my subconscious told me that Lilly was staring at me. I then shifted my eyes towards Lilly. She tilted her head and licked her mouth repeatedly with desperate eyes.

“Hey, don’t stare at me,” I warned.

I then bit my chicken piece, and after a few seconds, I glanced back at Lilly; she deliberately moved her glance away and pretended that she was not staring at me. I knew she was staring at my food. I bit and sucked my chicken drumstick and threw it on her face. She ate it and broke the bones of the drumstick. Besides that, I had a chocolate pastry and threw the leftover to Lilly. After a few minutes, I felt like having a beer. I reached my fridge, opened it, and took out a cold beer. I made sure it foamed slightly when I opened it.

When I turned around, Lilly was glancing at me. Her presence was annoying me. Her presence around me was the most annoying thing; I sipped my beer and looked at her; she was staring at my beer and licking her mouth. I poured a few drops on the floor. After having the beer, I turned off my TV, went to my room, and closed it hard. I slept until the next morning. When I opened my bedroom door the following day, Lilly was waiting for me and gave an exciting look; she quivered her tail. She followed me to my bathroom door. When I came back from my bathroom, she was waiting for me and glancing at me.

“Oh crap,” I said, with a lot of frustration. I was not too fond of her presence everywhere around me.

Her stalking annoyed me. I didn’t know how to throw her from my house. I reluctantly kept her in my house due to that’s cops' advice. I changed my dress and then made bread toast. While having breakfast, Lilly was staring at me as usual. I threw a piece of toast to her, and she grabbed and ate it. When I was leaving, Lilly followed me to the door.

I turned around. “Just don’t follow me, OK?” I shouted. I locked the door and went to college.

By five o'clock in the evening, I reached back home. When I opened my apartment door, my nostrils sensed the smell of poop. Initially, I thought it must be from the window. It was stinking badly. I smelled it in the air and looked at Lilly, and she was giving me the same odd glare. Still, I wasn’t sure about the smell. I sat on the couch, leaned down, and removed my shoes. When I turned towards my right, there was poop on my couch. I jumped up from there and didn’t know how to react. I felt like puking. I glared at Lilly, “I am going to kill you,” I shouted.

She ran away into another room after seeing my horrific expressions. I didn’t know how to clean that. So, I went to the washroom and wrapped cloth on my nose, wore gloves, and took a plastic cover. I reluctantly cleaned the poop and kept it in the plastic cover. I sprayed some room freshener on the spot and in the room. The situation disheartened me a lot when I thought that my two-hundred-thousand worth leather couch had become a pooping place for Lilly. I removed the cloth from my face and felt relieved. I heard some farting sounds behind me; when I turned, Lilly was pooping in different places in the hall.

I lost my patience and gave her a “Kill you” look.

“I am going kill you,” I shouted. I scrambled to Lilly to smack her, but she ran under the bed, which was quite an unreachable spot for me. I unwillingly cleaned it, which took an hour. I thought of taking Lilly to the hospital due to fear of a poop festival.

When I reached the nearby pet clinic, there were plenty of people who had brought their dogs and cats. I became frustrated at that moment and she was behind my legs—so close to me. I thought again about several ways to throw that dog away but didn’t hit upon anything. I glanced around; the waiting room had many animal posters on the walls. A girl kept a cat on her lap and smiled at me when she found out that I was staring.

When I took Lilly to the vet, she gave a gratifying smile.” Wow, you look so adorable.”

“Thank you,” I replied.

“I said that about the dog,” she said. “Please be seated. Make your dog sit on the table” she said and wore white gloves on her hand.

“It’s not my dog,” I said, “I found it on the street.” “Good for you. What’s the problem?’

She then groomed Lilly’s hair.” I don’t know doc; she pooped many times this evening.’

“Really?” She then touched Lilly’s stomach. “What did you feed her, by the way?”

“Nothing; last night I fed some fried chicken, cake, ice cream and gave her beer.”

She halted grooming Lilly for a moment and turned towards me. “What? You gave alcohol to the dog?”

“Yes. What’s wrong with that?” I half-smiled. “Are you mad, who feeds alcohol to dogs?”

“How could I have known? She asked me for some of what I was drinking.” I confronted, “It’s a street dog; what else would I keep in its mouth?”

“Are you blind? It’s a Golden Retriever, for God’s sake.” “What?”

She glared at me, “Golden Retriever.”

“The name should be ‘Golden Sucker,’” I said, twisting my mouth “Ever since it came into my life, my life has become pathetic. There is no time for chasing girls; this bloody dog has consumed my entire spare time.”

She removed her specs and watched me dubiously. “Wait, are you that guy?”

“That guy who?”

“You look like a dognapper” “Dog kidnapper?’ What rubbish.”

“I know about you guys; I have seen in the news; a few people even kill the dogs and eat them, like the Chinese.”

I became baffled.

“I am calling the cops” she reached for her phone. ” But why?’

“You are asking me why? You are feeding alcohol to the dog and tormenting that innocent little being.”

Lilly and I shared a look.

I thought she was bluffing, but she opened her mobile and typed 100 on the keyboard. I became frantic and decided to flee from there. “Lilly, run,” I said and ran away from that place towards my car with, my head down. When I turned around, Lilly was running towards me, like a rabbit. I got into the car and rolled down the back-seat window. Lilly jumped into the back seat. I checked in my rear mirror to see if someone was following me and slammed the accelerator. I locked the doors and drove fast until I left that vet’s street. While driving, I turned to my back seat. Lilly sat in the middle of the back seat and was staring at me. “How can I stop your poop flow?”

She blinked her eyes and barked.

I thought for a while. I passed a drug store and, suddenly, an idea sparked in my mind. I turned off my ignition and looked at her.” I will buy you some children’s diapers.”

She barked again. I got out of the car and forgot to pull up. I thought Lilly would die of suffocation; so I went back to my car and turned on the ignition again, with air-conditioning on.

When I entered the drugstore, the pharmacist wearing a white coat smiled at me.

“Excuse me, I want kid’s pads.”

“OK, which size?” he said typing on the keyboard of his computer.

I didn’t know what size it was. “Medium, small or large?” he asked, without looking at my face.

“Sorry, I am not sure about the size” I replied.

The Pharmacist cleared his throat, “Is it for your children?” “No, I am not married yet.”

“Then?”

I imagined Lilly’s butt size and showed him a size with the help of my hands, “This size.”

“Are you planning to buy it for a buffalo?”

“No, no,” I said, shuddering my head.

“Because it’s quite impossible to find one that size.”

“Ok, I will go with large,” I said finally. He then reached the children’s pads section and gave it to me. When I walked out of the drugstore, unfortunately, I encountered Priya, who was my classmate. She looked at me and smiled; I raised my hand and flashed my teeth.

“Hey, Rajesh! What’s up? Where are you these days? You are not even showing up at college”. She wore a black leather jacket and had black goggles on her eyes. She walked closer to me and placed her hands on my shoulders.

“Nothing; I was just busy with some other work” I clarified.

She then glanced at the children’s pads pack, “Who are you taking that for?”

I couldn’t hide the fact and said, “It’s for a dog.”

Surprisingly, Lilly honked my car’s horn; I glanced at her and saw she was in my driving seat.

“Oh my God—crap,” I mumbled.

She pointed to the pack, “Are you crazy—why are you buying these for a dog?”

I thought of telling her the truth about the poop festival, which Lilly had created but didn’t have time to explain, and I was worried about my car. Lilly honked my car again like my girlfriend who was fed up of waiting for me.

My car had started moving, “You bitch, how could you drive a car?” I said, glancing at Lilly.

I was petrified. “Excuse me.” “Not you,” I said.

“Oh my God! Rajesh you are crazy,” she said and left.

I realized now she will talk about the kid’s pads and Lilly to everyone in my class.

I walked towards my car. When I looked, Lilly was driving my car and I was in complete shock. I realized that I hadn’t pulled up and turned off my automatic car. I chased my car and shouted, “Somebody stop my car—the dog is driving!”

However, no one took my words seriously.

“Lilly, wait!” I shouted. I chased and knocked her windows; surprisingly she halted and rolled down her window. The moment she rolled down her window, she barked at me. When I opened the door, she licked my face. I was in deep shock about her superpowers. She shifted to the back seat, and I sat back in the car.

“How the hell do you know driving?” I questioned, looking at her.

She barked thrice.

After going back home, I was clueless about how to make Lilly wear the pads. I went through the directions on the backside and understood. Surprisingly, she didn’t do anything. I wrapped it tightly over her butt and plastered it with plastic tape. When I woke up the next morning and went through Lilly’s pads, I smiled after seeing a clean pad. I was relieved and fed her milk in her bowl. She drank it in a minute.

The next evening, I thought out a plan with a proper strategy. I bought a tennis ball and took her to the park, which was a little away from my home. We both then sat on the steel bench in the park. The park was filled with many children who were playing. Everyone was busy in their world and I thought that that place and time would be perfect to leave her.

I looked at her, “Today I am going to leave you forever.” I gave a cunning look to her. She ignored it.

I took out the tennis ball from my pocket, unleashed the chain from her neck, and threw the ball a little away from me.

“Lilly! fetch,” I said.

Lilly ran towards that ball and came back to me in seconds. I was happy that my plan was working. I gave a crooked smile and threw the ball with much pressure towards the green trees. When she ran to fetch it, I ran like an Olympic runner towards my car, got inside, and left the park. I was sure that Lilly couldn’t find me again. I went back home with a lot of joy and freedom, like a winner. I danced with a celebration on my couch. After an hour, I heard a dog’s barking sound. I must have been hallucinating the resonances due to the long- term presence of Lilly. However, after a few seconds, I heard it again.

I felt that the voice was vivacious and I realized that I was not imagining it. I heard that, repeatedly, the sound was coming from my door. I opened my door with much anxiousness. I was shocked; it was Lilly breathing excessively at me, and she barked repeatedly.

“How did you find my home?” I said, suppressing my voice. One of my neighbors walked out of his house. “Hey Rajesh, take your dog inside; my child is being disturbed by your dog’s barking,” he grumbled, keeping his hands on his hips. “It’s not my dog” I replied.

“I know it’s your dog. Not only me but also everyone in this apartment knows that’s your dog. Just take it inside or I am going to file a case against you with the cops.”

“How did you come back?” I muttered, looking at Lilly.

She barked seriously at me as if she knew I had left her intentionally.

“Hey! Are you deaf?” my neighbour’s eyes widened.

With no option left, I took her back inside my house. I sat on the couch with disappointment; Lilly jumped on the couch and sat close to me. When I glanced at her, she wagged her tail and pulled her ears back.

“You have become like herpes for me. How can I throw you out of my life? You have become like Rahu and Ketu in my horoscope” I said and wept silently.

I understood that it was quite impossible to get her out of my life. No matter how hard I was trying, she was not ready to leave me. For one moment, I thought the dog was the reincarnation of a girl whom I dumped in the past. I hated every moment with that dog—and I hated it more when it was stalking, I hated when it sat close to me. I hated everything about that dog.

Chapter-4

I didn’t realize that I had adopted dog traits until that day. It was my programming class. I was chewing my pen, and it was delicious, unfortunately. I leaned my head on the desk and enjoying that moment.

“Dude,” said my friend behind me

“Ya,” I said without opening mouth.

“You are chewing the pen like a bone, where usually dogs do”

I realized what I was doing, came back to my present, and regretted doing that dog trait. The taste was awful.

“Everybody silence,” said my professor “just give your attendance”

I smelled the class intensely with my nose.

“Dude,” my friend again.

“What?” I muttered

“You are sniffing like a dog again”

“Oh no, I am out of control. It seems I am adopting dog characteristics. This bloody dog has ruined my life dude, it's everywhere in my life. I have lost my self”

“Kaushik,” my professor said

“Present sir”

“Arun”

“Present sir”

“Rajesh,” my professor called me.

“Bow,bow,woof,woof” I barked like a dog.

The whole class laughed at me.

“Why are you barking like a dog?”Professor asked,” Even your exciting facial expression, reminds me of my dog.”

Professor laughed at me too.

It didn’t stop there, I did so many lunatic things which made me super popular in my college in a funny manner.I became a funny memes for my college student jokes.

Everyone started calling me with weird names like ‘doggy- boy,’ ‘doggie,’ ‘dogger-boy’ and what not. She would always be around me, be it on the couch, the bed, the bathtub, or anywhere else. She was a bitch with a lot of furs. This is where the entire problem started—itching! Because of her hair all around, the itching hit my life badly. I became the subject of jokes for everybody around me, especially chicks.

People also called me a ‘Casanova’ for the long list of chicks that I dated. All those chicks smirked at me and were happy to see me in trouble. They thought everything was happening to me because I broke their hearts. The situation got worse as I found Lilly’s hair in the food that I ate and even in the clothes that I wore.

It was a Friday, past the lunch hour. I was irked for the same reason–Lilly’s hair. However, this time, it was inside my trousers and by scratching around that area, and I was scratching and making the sounds of dogs when they usually make while scratching their itch with their leg.

I didn’t realize that while I was paying attention to my itch the entire class had their eyes on me. The whole class laughed at me again.

I was humiliated again. I walked out the next moment, out of embarrassment. I straight away landed at the doctors.

I showed myself to the doctor who scanned all the rashes on my body and took a step back. “What happened? Is everything all right, doctor?” I enquired. He removed his gloves and took his seat. He nodded his head and was taken aback by the results. “I’ve never seen such a case in my entire career, so far,” said the doctor, alongside laughing.

“Do you have pets at home?” “Yeah! I have a dog; why?”

“Do you see the bugs here, on your skin?” the doctor said, pointing at the screen, “These bugs are sucking your blood like a lemon mojito. They have come from your dog,”

He ended up laughing.

“What do I do, doctor?” I asked ignoring his laughter. “The first thing you do is get your dog treated to a spa and second, you go for a cleansing spa, too,” he said and handed over a prescription to me.

Hesitantly, I read it aloud, “Itching is fun?” (‘It is bloody not!’ my mind prompted)

“Yes, that’s a medicated powder. You will get it in any pet store,” he answered.

Confused, I asked if it was for me, to which he said that it was for Lilly. “Then what about me?” I questioned, scratching my shoulders.

“Twenty years of experience and I have never seen anything like this before.” He giggled like a chick. I didn’t have enough patience to confront his jokes or his sarcasm.

“Are you sure?” I wondered about his profession and felt dubious about his treatment style. How could any doctor suggest applying for animal medicine on a human?

“Unfortunately, you’ll be treated like a dog in this case” he laughed aloud and continued, “I mean you will have to use the same powder. You have to sprinkle it in the water before you bathe.”

I was dazed but I had to remain composed. “All right! And what about the dog?” I said, scratching my abs.

“How is it any different? Use it the same way for her too.” He laughed outrageously. His laugh was making me infuriated, like Lilly, but I bear it for the sake of my lost image in college.”

“Where would I find this powder?”

“Oh! You will find it at a place very nearby.” “Where is that?”

“In my clinic,” said the doctor cackling, “but let me check if it is in stock.”

“Can I apply this at night before I hit the bed, instead of using it before bathing?” I pried.

“Oh, there! I have it in stock. Look! But it’s twice the original price.”

“What! Why so?!” I asked with my eyes wide open, in shock. “My clinic, my rules!” he said with a goofy smile.

I had to buy the medicated powder from him since I had no other option. On my way back home, the only thing bothering me was the doctor’s heedlessness. It is a dog’s trait to hear anybody coming from a distance and they immediately recognize their owner’s homecoming, and that is what happened when I entered my home as usual. I always open the door to Lilly’s scratching at the door. All that desperation, only to see me. This never failed to make me the happiest. Lilly started jumping over me and wagging her tail incessantly, expecting me to pick her up in my arms. Well, I couldn’t disappoint her expectations and so I picked her up. She ended up licking me all over my face, just like how a kid licks all the cream on a biscuit right before devouring it.

I set the house right, cleaned Lilly’s poop–as usual, cried– as usual, and straight away headed to the washroom to bathe. I strewed the bathtub with the medicated powder, disrobed myself and doused body in it, completely. Suddenly, I heard Lilly barking from a distance. She continued barking and the sound kept growing louder. That is when I realized that I hadn’t locked the door. She started scratching the door, signaling me to open it.

“Lilly be quiet or else, I will kick your ass” I shouted in a screeching voice.

To my surprise, she somehow managed to open the door— by jumping on the handle, I assume. She ran towards me, got over to the edge of the tub, and started licking me. I tried shooing her away, but dogs and bitches, you know…

“Lilly, NO!” “Shooo! Shooo!” I yelled.

I couldn’t get out of the tub since I was instructed to remain in the water for one hour, to get rid of the bugs. I tried pulling myself back; preventing any sort of contact for that hour but Lilly kept forcing herself on me. She did not even care to listen to me. She was an untrained bitch, after all.

She finally tasted success by getting inside the tub and licking my face. I had no choice of stepping out, so we both stayed together in the tub for the next few minutes. Lilly didn’t discontinue licking my face. I felt like crying loudly but resisted. Right when I stepped out, I felt nostalgic looking back at the day when my ex-girlfriend and I had an aphrodisiac shower. Our bodies celebrated. Our lips enjoyed. Our hearts were content. Our hands felt the magic. It was a treat to our hearts. Such an erotic session that was, where both of us had one of the best times of our relationship. When I came back from my old thoughts, I understood that I ain’t going to get any girl until I get rid of Lilly.

Suddenly, it struck me that I had stopped scratching— meaning I had recovered. I wrapped myself in a bathrobe. I looked back at Lilly. As usual, she had her eyes on me already. Why does she never get tired of looking at me—that too without blinking—for long, as though she would miss something great if she blinked?

I pulled out another towel. I picked her up, wrapped her in the towel, and made sure she was dry, in a while. I let her loose. I walked inside the closet, to change. Just a few seconds later, I heard some noise—someone speaking, rather.

“Who’s that? I don’t remember turning the television on…” I said to myself.

I walked out to the living area. I couldn’t believe my eyes when

I saw Lilly browsing channels with the remote lying on the floor. She was tapping the remote with her paw. I briskly walked back into the room and shut the door. I was horrified at the sight of Lilly acting like a human. For a second, I went on thinking that there might be a possibility that Lilly was possessed by one of my ex-girlfriends.

To divert my mind and not heed whatever was happening, I turned on my laptop. I saw a mail pop-up from one of the universities in New Jersey that I had applied to. It was indeed happy news that I had been selected. I was even happier at that point because I knew I would get rid of Lilly very soon. I had already started dreaming of chicks, liquor, parties, money, and drugs. I was on cloud nine. I turned on some good music and began to dance to it.

A little while later, I heard Lilly crying—to, probably, come inside the room. I reprimanded her and immediately, I heard no cries. After a few minutes, she again started whimpering. That’s it—my limit was crossed. I lost my cool, opened the door, and just when I was about to yell, she tilted her face and had her puppy eyes on. I let her in; she jumped on the bed to sleep on the other side. The thought that I will soon be flying to New Jersey, leaving her behind, was the only reason why I let her in.

I had a dream that night, it was my marriage. I looked behind me, the bride was covered with red saree. I couldn’t see her face, the saree was covering her face. In front of me, the pandit was chanting mantras. My mom and dad were crying, I wondered about the reason behind their tears.

“Son, please take this Mangalsootra,” the pandit said and handed me.

I took out and was about to wear it on her neck. My mom leaned and uncovered the bride's face. I was shocked to see Lilly as a bride.

I screamed.

The next morning, I woke up to a strong, pungent odor. I saw Lilly’s head resting on my chest and her body closely stuck to mine. It felt like I was sleeping with my girlfriend. I pushed her away because I couldn’t stand the sight of her being so close to me. I sat back and shivered thinking about the previous night’s nightmare. I prayed god for not making that to reality.

Chapter-5

I was home by five in the evening and I saw a courier delivered in the letterbox. I picked it up and started walking in. I heard a voice from behind. I could tell by the voice that the man sounded very exasperated, for some reason.

It was Pradeep. I turned towards him and inquired, “Yes, Mr. Pradeep?”

“Why do I have to go through all this every day?” he yelled. “What is it?” I prompted.

“Your dog is crying all the time,” he yelled at me. I didn’t believe him and asked him to shut up. “How? How does he cry?” I asked, however.

He howled like a fox. I ignored him. “Mr. Pradeep, you are very funny.”

“Your dog peeing on my doormat every day. If this happens again, the next person you see will be a cop,” he said. It sounded like the lull before the storm. I had to do something about it but for that moment, I didn’t give any thought to it and went inside. I opened the courier and I was ecstatic, as my visa for the States had been approved. I jumped with joy and Lilly joined me as well; wagging her tail.

She was happy to see me happy.

It felt like she had seen me after ages, she licked me everywhere. She jumped everywhere. I had to book the air- tickets but she didn’t let me do it. She kept distracting me. But later, when I booked my tickets, I was the happiest. I could feel the happiness in my tummy; the happiness of leaving India, and Lilly.

“I will be free in the next few days,” I kept prompting repeatedly as if I was reassuring myself.

I was having a whale of a time, as I would be leaving Lilly forever, in a mere ten days. My sex life was inactive and the credit went to Lilly. All these years I felt like I was waiting for a raindrop in the drought—that little hope.

I ended up sharing the news with my friends and family. Everyone was very happy. Anirudh asked me to celebrate while mom and dad expressed all the emotions that they were going through. Well, my dad was one of the biggies in Mumbai. Then, he shifted overseas for his business. He always insisted that I join him but my dreams were different.

The countdown had already begun; there were just nine days left. I came back home after a long day. I opened the door and I saw Lilly. Strangely, things were different that day because I noticed Lilly was behaving inappropriately.

“What did you do know?” I said after closing the door. “Please don’t say you have created a poop festival again.”

She had gone under the bed; I understood something was wrong. Some cotton fur came out, floating in the air, from my room. I walked slowly towards my bedroom. I opened the door and my heart skipped a beat the moment I saw that everything was in tatters in my bedroom. It no more felt like a room. There were cotton and wool everywhere. The curtains were ruined. I turned around to see where Lilly was.

As expected, she was hiding under the bed with a puppy-like face, portraying innocence—a dog’s trait. I gave her a look that was enough for her to understand that I was mad at her. The next moment, I turned around and my foot fell on something and that something was the residual remains of some document or paper, I guessed. Well, my passport was on its last legs. It nearly gave me a heart attack. I got furious and yelled at her. She started running away from me.

My blood boiled, “Lilly I am going to kill you,” I shouted.

I tried to get hold of her but she was very quick. I couldn’t take it anymore so I gave up; I was helpless. All my happiness went in vain in no time. I landed on the couch like a dead man. I couldn’t think of anything and I dozed off.

The next morning, I considered all the options. Lilly was right there around me but my anger had gone by then. I was furious but my focus was on getting the passport reissued. Therefore, I left for the police station. I filed an FIR of the missing passport. I had to make up a story since the actual story didn’t seem practically possible. According to the inspector, it was a very long process. The add-on enraged me. That was it; I was done. I had to call my dad, my last resort, who then made use of his friendship with government officials. I got a call from the passport office asking me to come in for a few formalities. All my hopes came running back to me.

Even with the dad’s intervention, it took a lot of time. The day of departure was nearing. Only a few hours were left for the takeoff and I still didn’t have my passport. It was 10:00 a.m. and my flight was scheduled to depart at 1:30 p.m. I was hungry but I didn’t feel like eating at all.

It was the day of my departure and I was waiting for my passport from the embassy. I had my fingers crossed, not willing to give up at all. At around 10:30 a.m., as the doorbell rang, my adrenaline started gushing. I opened the door and it was the courier person with my passport in his hand. Of course, not literally the passport but I could figure out that the envelope had my passport inside.

All the lost hope and excitement came back. The very next thing I did was book a cab, wind-up all my belongings. I was rushing downstairs when I noticed somebody follow me; it was Lilly.

Lilly followed me throughout the way. I kept the entire luggage in the cab and tied Lilly with her harness. I handed over the leash to the security guard and informed him about a friend who was going to pick Lilly up in a few hours—and I knew that I was bluffing.

“Hold the bitch tight,” I said to the security guard. Before leaving, I handed over 100 bucks to the security guard. That moment was the one where Lilly was not on my priority list— the flight was.

The cab had arrived; I boarded the cab thanking God every moment. The cab driver was the worst of all the drivers I had seen. He drove the car as if he wanted me to miss the flight. It was 11:15 and I had to reach the airport before a minimum of two hours prior to departure, for immigration. No amount of yelling worked on the driver, although he wasn’t at fault for all the traffic on the road. He did his best to make me reach on time.

I had been so nervous that I could have missed my flight. I became tense and couldn’t think of anything apart from the departure of my flight, because I knew the boarding would close forty-five minutes before departure. Finally, I reached the airport at 12:30, on the dot. I became panicky because I had to clear immigration too, before getting inside the flight. I gave the money to the cab driver and took out my three-wheeled suitcases. There was not enough time to reach the carrier. Therefore, I kicked my suitcases one after the other and ran behind them, chasing them. Everyone around me glanced strangely. My suitcases were running towards the departure gate as if even they were in a hurry to leave. The security halted my suitcases and gave me a warning glare.

“What are you carrying?’ a tall officer asked. “It’s just clothes” I replied, coughing.

I checked my watch it was 12.38 am. “Please let me in. I need to go—I am late.”

“Show me your tickets and passport,” he looked at me dubiously. I took out my tickets and passport and handed them to him. After checking them he said, “You can’t go inside, Sir.”

“But why?”

“You are late; even if you go inside, you can’t catch the flight.”

“But I need to go” I shouted. “Keep your voice down, mister.”

I became plagued by consternation; my mind went out of my control. I was sweating excessively. I didn’t know what to do; I reached another security officer who was talking on the phone. I took his gun and pointed it at the security.

“Let me in,” I shouted again.

The security people pointed their guns towards me. “Drop your weapon, or else we will shoot you!” said one of the officers. People around me panicked and started shouting; soon after that, around ten security officers surrounded me. I looked at the big screen, I appeared on it and I was like an ISIS terrorist. I came back to consciousness and realized that I was out of my mind. I kept my gun on the floor.

“On your knees, now!” said one of the officers.

I kneeled down on the floor. They all came up to me, tied my hands, and took me to the interrogation room. Then, they stripped me and checked my body for any dangerous weapons I could be carrying. Literally, they checked every hole of my body.

I was waiting in the interrogation room; my hands were still tied; I became extremely tired. The room was empty apart from the table and chair on which I was sitting. An officer walked inside my room with a coffee mug in his hand. He wore a blue suit. He was tall and muscular. He then sat in front of me and went through on all my past records.

“Why did you do that?” Are you a terrorist?” he said and tapped his foot.

“No Sir, I am not a terrorist,” I replied. “Then why?”

“Sir sorry, I was in a big hurry to leave and I had a fight,” I added. There was a water bottle on my table. I gulped my saliva like a starving person who was stranded in the desert for weeks. The officer looked at the bottle and said with a husky voice,

“Have it.”

I held the bottle with both hands and drank from it; the water spilled on my jaw and cheeks. I drank the water in one go, without a halt. I took breaths excessively with my mouth. I thought about

Lilly and realized that she was the reason for my current situation. “Bloody bitch,” I said and wiped my watery mouth.

“Excuse me?” the officer said. “Nothing Sir, I had a fight.”

“Fight? With whom?’ the lines around his eyes deepened. “With the dog” I replied.

“With the dog?” he said and glanced at me dubiously from top to bottom.

I held my eye contact with him. “Yes, Sir. That dog ate my passport and had to apply again. I received my visa this morning and I was stuck in traffic and there was no time for departure. So, I lost my mind.”

“Literally, a few passengers shit in their pants. You know that?” the officer gave an angrier look.

“Sir, I am sorry,” I said in a requesting way.

Another person walked inside the interrogation room and leaned his head beside the officer’s ear. “He is clear.”

“Sir, please let me go; I have to go to New Jersey.”

“Your flight has already left the airport “he explained. I thought for a moment and understood I had lost another chance to go to New Jersey.

“At least, can I talk to my dad?”

He nodded, and then considered it for a moment. “Only one call, understood?”

“OK, sir” I nodded back at him, without blinking my eyes.

That officer trusted me and let me talk to my dad. In addition, I explained to him everything that happened at the airport. He then talked to some politicians and the cops handed me a form. They told me to fill it up and sign it. I started filling the form and at some point, my pen just stopped moving and I realized that I had lost my stamina. Nevertheless, I reluctantly signed the form and they left me, making me feel like I was a criminal. When I recalled my unethical situation, I felt embarrassed. My blood boiled thinking about Lilly. I knew it all happened because of Lilly. I felt like killing her for my debacle and I was very upset that I had missed the flight. Because I knew that, I had not only missed my flight but also that year’s admission. Because I could not report on time, I would have to wait for another year.

Chapter-6

I pulled Lilly’s chain and walked towards my apartment. I made her walk with me forcibly into the apartment. The moment I opened the door, she ran into the apartment. I managed my luggage and went back to Lilly. I was furious. Lilly kept staring at me and wagging her tail, as usual, which was annoying me even more because it looked like she was not the culprit.

“Why are you spoiling my life?” I bawled out of the blue. She got scared, hid beneath the table, and continued looking at me. “Why did you even walk into my life?” I yelled. “You destroyed my life. I hate you. I hate your body odor, everything about you. You haunt me like a ghost. Why don’t you just die? I lost everything because of you. I lost an opportunity; one that I will take another year to harvest. Why don’t you just leave me and die somewhere?”

Out of frustration, I threw the flower vase against the wall. I was exasperated to such a level that around 10 in the night,

I had half a bottle of vodka and crashed; I did nothing else. I slept for more than 33 hours straight. I woke up around 7 am to my phone’s continuous vibration; it kept buzzing like an alarm. When I checked, it showed 120 messages and 60 missed calls. I freaked out and wiped my eyes. I woke up in the hustle, “What the hell!” I exclaimed. It took me a few seconds to come back to a normal state of mind. I went through the notifications and saw that the first one was Mukesh. I called him back and told him about the entire mishap. He laughed and said that God had given me another chance to live. I did not really understand why he said that to me.

He then gave me the breaking news of an air crash—the same flight that I had to board!

He then hung up.

I realized how fortunate I was to have missed the flight due to whatever reasons. I felt blessed because of Lilly. She was my savior and I felt guilty for the way I treated her all this while, the way I cursed her for whatever she did. She didn’t do anything deliberately; rather, her mischief saved my life. Someone has rightly said, everything happens for a reason—and that reason is always going to be good. At that point, Lilly was no less than an angel in the guise of a bitch, for me. I rubbed my eyes, got back into my senses, and scratched my head since I was not able to process so many things at the same time. I walked up to Lilly and looked at her. This time, all I had for her was good vibes. I could see she was very upset with me. Why wouldn’t she be!

I went downstairs and called her but she didn’t respond even after being called ten times. I poured milk in her bowl and yet she didn’t budge. At around two in the afternoon, I went back to check—the bowl of milk was untouched and Lilly was sleeping. I decided to leave for work. When I came back, everything was as it was. I called her again; she didn’t respond. Later, I went to her, patted her forehead, rubbed her body, scratched her head, and pampered her in every possible way. I tried everything to convince her. She didn’t give a damn. She was very upset with my behavior.

“Hey Lilly, drink the milk,” I said. She responded by opening her eyes. She remained silent and exhaled loudly, that is all. I didn’t know how to convince her and felt guilty for yelling at her. “Drink, baby! Drink the milk, please! I don’t have the patience to convince you.”

She was quiet thereafter; neither had she eaten nor had she drunk anything. I left to change my clothes and freshen up. I dumped the dirty clothes in the washing machine and walked back to her. She was there, lying beside the couch. I sat on the couch, turned on the TV, and surfed channels. I came across this cartoon show which had dogs telecasted in it. I let that be, on purpose, just to cheer Lilly up. Nevertheless, she continued being mad at me, though she had eaten by now. I was to be blamed for all that Lilly was going through; I felt culpable. I decided to eat. I had dinner at the table along with bowls of guilt, misery, shame, and regret. I wished Lilly understood human emotions and gestures well.

Lilly was yet again testing my patience, but this time I couldn’t let it out; her hunger strike was getting on my nerves.

The next morning, I woke her up but she didn’t respond well. I noticed her weak body and dull eyes. Yes, dogs’ bodies respond quickly to all the changes in and around their bodies. I couldn’t understand what to do so I decided to resort to YouTube, my saviour.

I searched YouTube about dogs’ behaviour. I came across a video wherein a young girl explained, in detail, how one is supposed to understand their dog.

“Dogs are very loyal and they are just like babies, meaning, all they need and seek is love. They want to be pampered and loved all the time. They want to be taken care of. When not paid attention to, they get very upset. Lack of attention and love can lead to depression, in their case. You need to know that your dog knows you really well. In fact, they understand humans more than anybody else does. They are born with the ability to comprehend human language, gestures, and voice. So, feed them with love and they’ll go places for you.” I went through the video for half an hour and by then, many of my doubts had been cleared. I tried again but this time with a greater desire. I patted her head. She opened her eyes and looked at me.

“Hey, my dear Lilly, please drink the milk” I pleaded in a sweet voice. Probably, she was the first female I had ever pleaded to.

I knelt in front of her and apologized.

“I am sorry my girl and I shouldn’t have shouted at you, I realize.”

I groomed her hair for a while and kissed her forehead.

“I am sorry, I am sorry” I hummed and kissed her again, smilingly.

Her tail wagged a little, that’s when I figured out that this technique worked. After every kiss, I apologized. She looked at me, and I at her. She got up and started licking my face—so much that I had to stop her after a point.

Whatever it was, my efforts paid off. “Please drink the milk, baby” I whispered.

She ran to her bowl and started slurping the milk; all through the while, she did not let our eye contact break. Our eyes twinkled.

After the plane crash incident, I realized my baby’s value. I molded myself, my behaviour, and controlled my anger too. From that day, Lilly became my companion; we took strolls together, she would sleep on my lap, we would watch TV together and we would eat at the same time. I realized her stand in my life. I realized she was always going to be there for me. Children at the park started recognizing me as ‘Doggy Uncle’ and I did not mind being called that. Her presence became a part of my life. I enjoyed every moment with Lilly. She liked bathing every week, though bathing led to a lot of fur loss. But she enjoyed it.

That evening, I took her to the society park, and we played every dog’s favourite game–fetch and bring. I threw the ball; her excitement level pumped up; she got the ball within seconds. I threw it again and she got it again. She was the happiest on that day. She was jumping with joy. She was unstoppable. She started to fight for breath, like literally.

Looking at Lilly gasping, I had to ask her to calm down, “Lilly, please halt!”

“Wuff! Wuff! Ruff! Ruff!” Lilly barked.

Well, that meant something. It meant that she wanted me to continue and not stop. She demanded that I throw the ball. She wanted to play more. She couldn’t see how tired she was but I could.

“Lilly, no! Let’s wait for a while, you are too tired. Look at yourself…”

I kissed her forehead and rubbed her neck. Her golden hair glowed in that beautiful evening light. On repeated barking, I gave her treats and biscuits just to calm her down. She was so active that she caught the biscuit when it was in the air. While she was busy chewing it, I took a glimpse of the park and noticed many kids around who were playing with their families. I pondered over Lilly’s past and wondered how she landed in my hands. Just then, I saw Lilly walk ahead towards a family that was playing with a brown husky. Lilly wanted to go and play with that husky. It was too late when I checked my watch, so I pulled out her chain from the bag and called for her.

“C’mon Lilly, time to leave!” I said.

There was no reaction from Lilly and that surprised me. Therefore, I went up to her and bent down to rub her back. While rubbing her back, I asked, “Hey, what’s up?”

She was whimpering, staring at the family. I did not understand why she was doing that, that too looking at the husky’s family.

“Hey, Lilly!”

She turned and looked at me with puppy eyes; I looked down at her and saw her teary eyes. She was whining. Not able to figure out the reason was eating me up, now that Lilly had become my world. For the very first time, ever since she came into my life, I noticed this kind of peevishness on her face.

“Come on, baby! Let’s go!” I said, hooking the chain to her neckpiece. We both walked out of the park but she did not seem happy at all, so I decided to buy her ice cream from the ice- cream van outside. I took the cone, peeled off the wrapper, and offered it to her but she didn’t have it.

“What happened, Lilly?”

She walked away and stood by the front door of my car. I paid the ice cream vendor and rushed towards my car to open the door for her. She hopped inside and sat on the passenger seat. Without wasting any more time, I sat on the driver’s seat and raced the accelerator and we left the place.

“Lilly! Why are you upset? How will I understand if you stay calm?”

She did not acknowledge me. Rather, she kept looking out of the window.

“How about it if I open your favourite sunroof?”

Yet again, there was no response. I decided to go for it and the sunroof glass slid to let fresh air rush in. Lilly’s fur felt the breeze.

“Tell me, dear. Why are you upset? Did I do or say something to you that hurt you?”

Never in my life had I ever done so much for a girl. She was the first one. On reaching home, I saw that Lilly went and settled on the couch and rolled her eyes down while I removed my shoes. I decided to let her be for a while. Meanwhile, I changed, took a shower, and freshened up. Lilly was there, still in that posture. She had not moved. I sat adjacent to her to give her company.

“Lilly, what happened, baby?”

She remained silent and continued her disappointed look. I thought something was wrong.

Going back into the recent incidents that took place in the park, I figured out what could’ve been the reason behind Lilly’s mood.

“Lilly, do you want to see your mom?” I enquired.

She actually understood that and her tail started wagging. “Do you want to see your dad?”

“Wuff wuff!” she barked. I could see her enthusiasm. “That’s it! You want to see your parents, right?”

She jumped off the couch, spun around, and barked continuously until I rubbed her head as an acknowledgment.

“But how will you find them, Lilly? This country has a population of more than a billion,” I said.

She whined and I had to understand the hidden meaning behind it.

“Okay, we will find a way to reach your parents, I promise.”

She leaned down with her front limbs stretched, wagged her tail, and jumped on me to lick my face.

By then, I knew she wanted to see her mom and dad. She wanted me to make it happen. Nevertheless, finding her parents in such a huge country like India was an impossible task. I thought for a solution and then landed up on social media; I posted a picture of Lilly on all my social media accounts. In all, I had more than 2000 friends, from various cities.

“LILLY (Not the original name)

- A Golden Retriever.

I found her a few months ago, on the streets of Mumbai. Kindly contact me if you happen to know about the owner. Folks, please do share the post as much as possible.”

I looked at Lilly; her mood had been uplifted just by one post on social media. I didn’t know how she understood all of that.

“I will find your parents, for sure.” She licked me and blinked twice.

Chapter-7

It had been raining lightly for the last couple of hours. I could hear the sound of rain from my window. Rohith called me; I picked his call up after a few rings. “Hey, buddy, what’s up? Long time no see?”

“Hi, doggy man,” he said and smiled. “Hey.”

“How is your girlfriend, by the way?” he asked.

I looked at Lilly—she was licking her hands on the couch. “She is fine.”

“So, when are you guys getting married?” “Rohith,” I said, as a final warning.

“OK, OK. I am just kidding,” he confessed. “I am just talking about the rumor which is going round, among our batchmates.”

I scratched my jaw and wrinkled my nose. “Rumor?”

“Yes, everyone is thinking that you are dating your dog and have found true love in her.”

That might be the rumor but it felt like it was the truth. “All your ex-girlfriends are very happy, it seems,” he said, laughing.

“Happy? But why?” I asked, dubiously.

“They thought that you are going to marry your dog and you would be the father of the first dog-human puppies.”

I giggled.

“I wish my dog was a human being and I am sure I would be marrying her. But it’s not possible, dude.”

“What are you up to these days? Are you planning to apply for another university?” he asked.

“Maybe next year. Right now, I am trying to find Lilly’s parents,” I answered.

“But why? You like her very much and she has anyway gotten lost from her previous owner,” he said. “Then why don’t you keep her with you?”

“She wants to meet her parents and she is missing them very much—which I came to know of recently. I will find them at any cost.”

“Instead of searching for her parents, why don’t you keep the dog, if you like her so much?”

I knew he wouldn’t like my answer. “If I do that, I might be happy; but she can’t be happy without seeing her parents.”

“OK, all the best for your quest of her parents; I will see you soon.”

“Bye,” I said and hung up the phone.

What I said to Rohith was true; I was concerned about her parents. I couldn’t see Lilly in pain. It may sound stupid for him but I was very happy about the decision had I made. After a few minutes, I received a message from an unknown number on my mobile.

“Hi, Rajesh. I know about the dog which you have with you.

Please call me back for further details.”

I wiped my eyes and woke up. Lilly was still busy in her body-licking business. “Lilly, look! We found a person who knows the address of your parents.” I called back on that number; he picked up my call after a few rings.

“Hello, I am Rajesh.”

“Hi Rajesh, I am Rohan.”

“I just received a message from you saying that you know the details of the parents of the dog.”

“Yes, I know that dog. Last night, I saw the post on my home page—it was shared by my friend. I identified the dog the moment I saw it. I lived in the same street as the dog’s family. I will forward you the details of that family so you can go there. I don’t have any phone number of theirs. I can only give you the house address,” he explained.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! Of course, I am sure—because I lived in that street for five years. Her real name is ‘Sasha.’ She had the same color belt on her neck.”

“Really? Thank you very much for your help. This means a lot to her. Now, she can meet her parents again.”

“It’s OK; Sasha was a very amicable dog. She was friendly to everyone; that’s how I knew her closely.”

My joy was unstoppable—not for taking her away from my life, but because she could be happy.

“Once again, thank you very much,” I said.

He texted me the address of her family. The house was in Pune and the name of the owner of the dog was ‘Pandey.’ I wondered how Lilly would react to her real name. She wrapped herself in a bedsheet, and I thought not to call her with her original name because she would recall all her memories with her parents.

“Lilly” I shouted with joy.

She came out from the bedspread and started licking my face. “We found the address of your home; we are going home to meet your parents.”

She barked repeatedly and spun around with excitement. I rubbed her head, “So will you leave me, Lilly?”

She licked my ears; “I wish we could stay together forever.” I looked into her glowing eyes.

“I am happy that you are going back to your parents but why do I feel like being with you every moment and day? I am sure no one will love me like you.” My eyes became watery. “But still, I am happy for you.”

I had mixed emotions in my mind; I was happy and sad at the same moment. However, her happiness became a priority for me, rather than my happiness. I had lots of free time; so, I decided to take Lilly back to her home.

By 2:00 p.m., I packed my dresses and required articles in my bag. I also kept Lilly’s biscuits, packed food, and her bowl in my bag.

Before closing the door, I thought about how it would be when I come back home with empty hands—without Lilly and with a lot of pain in my heart. I looked at Lilly; she was very happy. We both went to the cellar floor and got into the car. She sat behind me, as usual. I turned on the engine and headed to the highway. The National Highway was full of loaded trucks and passenger buses. Our road was in between the big tunnels of the big mountains. The tunnels had artificial lights inside. After coming out of the tunnel, I rolled down the windows and decreased the speed of my car. The bright sunlight came through Lilly and fell on me. I turned on the music player and played some piano music. I glanced at Lilly, “Lilly, do you like the music?”

She barked twice; I understood that she didn’t like it. “Lilly, will you miss me after going back to your house?”

She remained silent. “I know you will forget me because no one can replace parental love.”

We had been driving for forty-five minutes; she sat behind me and was looking at the highway. I wondered what she must have been thinking.

“You know Lilly; my life will be boring without you. I am sure no one can replace you,” I controlled my steering and tapped her head with my head.

I was just a few kilometers away from Pune city and my heart became heavy. I was wrong; I thought I could stay without her but I realized that I couldn’t stay without her. I looked at her; she was staring at the green trees.

I saw a green hoarding which had ‘Welcome to Pune’ written on it, in white letters. After a few minutes, we entered Pune city; it was 6:00 p.m. I browsed the location and connected to GPS. I followed the instructions and reached the street mentioned in the location. The city seemed colder, with houses of beautiful architecture.

Lilly moved, looking at the location with joy and kept barked repeatedly. I understood that she identified her house’s location. I was just following the location based on the GPS. I wondered how she came hundreds of kilometers away from her home. The lane had similar looking individual villas. I halted the car right in front of her house and stretched my fingers above the steering. Lilly again barked with a lot of curiosity. She licked my face and ears. “Lilly—wait; I am opening the door.”

I could see the numbers on the houses and unlocked the door. The house itself was at the end of the street and it was hidden behind trees. I pulled up and we walked out of the car. We stood in front of the property’s gate; it was a villa, too. There was a security guard in front of the door, who sat on the chair, “Excuse me, can I meet Mr. Pandey?”

Lilly was barking at the door. “Lilly. Wait,” I said. “Mr. Pandey left this place a few days ago” he replied. “What? But where is he now?”

“He left for Sholapur.”

Lilly was scratching the door with her hands, “Hey—hold your dog, sir,” the security guard shouted.

I leaned and held Lilly; I raised my head–“Could you please open the door?”

“But why, sir?”

“She is Mr. Pandey’s dog; I don’t know how she was lost from them. Could you please open the house door? Let her go inside and confirm that her family is not staying here anymore.”

“But, sir …” he hesitated. “Please …”

Lilly was super excited and was not in a position to listen to my words; I felt sad for her.

“OK.” He then took out a bunch of keys and opened the house door. Lilly ran inside and searched for her family in every room, by barking. The door led into a large hallway. She licked a few places in the room and smelled some other places of the house. It was a big house; the villa was a duplex. Lilly even went to the roof, excited to see her parents. She barked and howled. I could see the pain in her eyes when she didn’t find her parents. I didn’t know how to convince her; she went to one of the corners of a bedroom and sat on the floor.

Her loyalty in love made me realize what a pig I was. Her love was like a tight slap for me; I realized and learned how I should be loyal in love.

I walked up to her and kissed her head. “Hey Lilly, I can understand how you love your parents. Nevertheless, I promise you that I will take you back to them for sure—believe me, Lilly. I am not lying to you; give me some time and I will take you to them for sure. I then rubbed her hair. Despite my convincing, she didn’t get up from her place. I took her into my arms; she was hefty but I managed to keep her on my shoulders. I took her to my car and kept her on the seat. I then went back to the security person and asked him for precise information about Mr. Pandey. “He is a businessman and has a marble business. He is fifty-five years old and he has two sons, who live in the USA.” “Aren’t you aware of this dog?”

“No Sir, I didn’t see this dog when I joined as a security guard.” “Do you have any picture of Mr. Pandey or his mobile number?”

He thought for a few seconds. “Let me check my mobile, Sir.” He then took out his phone from his pocket and searched for a while. I looked back at Lilly; she was staring at me from the car.

“I do have his picture. But sorry, I don’t have his number,” he said. “Oh yes, here it is,” he showed it to me. He was bald and had a thick black beard.

“Could you please send me that picture through Bluetooth?” I requested.

“Yes sir, sure.”

I turned on my Bluetooth and then, in a span of a few seconds, I received Mr. Pandey’s picture. “Thank you,” I said.

I went back to my car, turned on the AC, and rolled up the windows. Lilly was very disappointed. I groomed her hair with my hands.

“Hey Lilly, don’t be disappointed; see—I found details of your dad,” I consoled her.

She produced sounds from her vocal cords. I understood that she was sad. Even I was disappointed with her situation. I couldn’t bear to see her like that. I browsed the distance of Sholapur from my location. It was around 260 kilometers.

Chapter-8

I scrutinized the fuel tank’s reading on display; there was not enough fuel. We again drove slowly until we found a petrol station. I filled up the fuel tank and saw a supermarket that was attached to the petrol station. We both went inside. There were no sales persons. There was only one person at the bill counter. I picked up a water bottle and a few chips packets. After taking the items, I kept them on the counter. He scanned the chips packets, bottle, and said; “two fifty rupees please.”

I reached into my pocket and paid him the money. He then glanced at Lilly and said “Nice dog. Which breed?”

“Golden Retriever” I replied.

“I too like dogs; can I touch him once?”

“Yes sure,” I said and dropped my gaze at Lilly, who was behind my legs.

He then came from behind the counter and leaned in front of Lilly.” What’s his name?”

“It’s not him; it’s her, and her name is Lilly.”

He then kept his hand in front of Lilly’s hand. She then shook his hand, wagging her tail.

“Wow, it’s nice. She knows how to shake hands with new people.”

“Yes.”

We both came out of the supermarket and reached our car, which was a few meters away. We got inside the car, I turned the music on and we hit the road. It was windy outside. I checked the map to Sholapur and followed the map’s directions.

At 3.30 p.m., we halted at a Dhaba. I saw a few cars and trucks parked outside, in the parking slots, and thought it would be safe to go there. I tied a chain to Lilly’s collar. I did that because it was a new place, not that Lilly would bark at

new people. When we stepped inside, it was a little smoky, it had benches, and tables made of marble. It was occupied by a few individuals and groups. Most of the people were bus and truck drivers. Everyone stared at me strangely when they saw Lilly with me. I made her sit in front of me, took out her bowl, and fed her dog food. The waiter walked towards me and was a little afraid upon seeing Lilly.

“What do you want, sir?” his tone was fearful.

I scanned the menu, “Could you bring me chicken fried rice?”

“Of course.”

“How much time will it take?” I questioned. “Fifteen minutes tops.”

“OK. Bring it fast, please; I am in a hurry.” “OK, sir. I will try” the waiter replied.

I looked around; there was a garden and it was beautiful. The truck drivers were boozing and chatting with each other on the wooden carts. I could smell the alcohol in the air.

There were around five people who sat a little behind me. They stared at me and then whispered something to one another. Their behavior was a little suspicious. All of them were muscular and tall; I diverted my mind from them and glanced at Lilly.

“Hey, Lilly. Probably by tomorrow, you will be with your mom and dad.”

She blinked.

“And I will be coming back to Mumbai with empty hands,” I said. “I will miss you, Lilly. Also, I am sure you will forget me when you see your parents.”

wondered how her parents would react when they saw Lilly; I was sure they would be engulfed in joy. I fetched a towel from the bag and wiped the edges of Lilly’s eyes. She was breathing through her mouth, as usual.

My chicken fried rice arrived at my table after fifteen minutes, sharp. The smell was pleasant. There were onion and tomato slices on the rice. I took a bite of the chicken piece with a fork and showed it to Lilly, “Would you like to eat?”

She licked her mouth—and it meant that she wanted to eat. “I am just kidding Lilly. I wouldn’t take that risk because

I do remember the incident of your poop festival. I am not going to make that mistake.” She then kept her head on the table. I fed her dog food and she gobbled it in a minute.

After completing the food, we went back to our car and sat inside. I unleashed her chain. “Let us start our journey.”

I turned on the ignition and checked the time on the dashboard; it was 4.15 p.m. I reversed my car and hit the road. After driving for a few miles, the highway became empty.

I could not see any car for the next few kilometers. I looked behind me; the whole place had no trees and there where big mountains. It was a little scary. Suddenly, a car overtook me and blocked me. I honked twice, asking for a way. Despite that, the driver didn’t give me the way. Lilly was growling and barked at the car.

“Lilly, be a calm baby.”

I honked again and that car halted suddenly. I pulled my hand brake, which created a jerk inside. Lilly had her seat belt on and struggled to come out. Within seconds, a few people walked out of the car in front of me, with rods in their hands. I understood something was wrong and locked the doors of my vehicle. The four surrounded my car; one of them had a gun; Lilly was barking continuously.

“Lilly, be quiet.”

“Come out of the car,” said one of the people, he was short but muscular and had a thick beard.

I rolled down my window. I realized that those were the same guys who had stared at us in the Dhaba earlier. “Please, I have a dog. I am coming out of the car.”

Lilly was barking excessively. She was very ferocious, which I’d never seen until that day.

“Come out of the car quickly” shouted one of the people, and clobbered on my window.

They were all about my age. “Please give me a minute; I am coming out.”

“Lilly, please be calm. They have weapons; they can hear you, dear.”

Despite my request, Lilly was still angry with them. I hooked a chain to her neck, removed the seat belt, and took out my bag. Then, unlocking the door, I held Lilly’s chain and made her get down from the car.

“Don’t try to be smart, just give us your car keys,” said the person who had a gun. He was pointing the gun right at my head.

I was not concerned about the car, but I was worried about Lilly. Lilly was becoming more diabolical and barking at them. “Hey, control your dog. Or else, I will shoot,” he said,vaguely.

“Please don’t do it, I will give you the keys,” I said and handed over my car keys to them. Lilly was trying to ambush them, and I held the chain tightly. She was fearless about their weapons.

“Lilly—be quiet,” I cautioned her.

The person who had the gun got into the driver’s seat. The rest stared at me with a serious expression on their faces. A tall, bearded person asked me for money

“Please, sir. At least leave the money, so that I can take the bus,” I requested.

The person who sat in the driving seat turned towards him and said, “Jeetu come, we have the car and that’s enough,” he said.

“It’s a luxury car worth more than seventy lakhs; please don’t do anything to us.” I requested.

I pleaded again. However, despite that, the bearded person tried to reach my pockets. Lilly jumped and caught his hand. He shouted and another person tried to hit Lilly with his rod. I pushed him. Lilly pounced on those two people who were trying to hit me.

“Lilly no! Run, run” I shouted. I was on the ground; that person held my neck. The driver came out of the car and pointed his gun toward Lilly.

“Hey” I yelled. I reached him and hit his hand with the rod. The gun fell and I kicked it away with my foot. Lilly attacked the three of them horrifically. I punched the stomach of the driver. The driver then picked up a stone and threw it on Lilly’s legs. My blood boiled. I plucked out tufts of hair of the two people and pushed them down on the road. Lilly was howling with pain and she collapsed on the ground.

“Hey! How dare you hurt my dog!” I squawked, and punched everyone’s stomach; they all pushed me and got into the car. They took my car away. I reached Lilly, who was bleeding. I took out my handkerchief and tied it on her leg. “Why did you do that, Lilly? Why? I told you to be silent and run. Why did you risk your life?” I kissed her head. “How could I live without you if something happened to you? I can’t live if something happens to you, Lilly.” My tears rolled down my cheek. I started crying after seeing her blood.

“Why Lilly? Why?”

Even in that immense pain, she licked my tears. I held her in my arms and she was moaning with pain. “Don’t cry baby, don’t cry. We will go to the doctor.” I looked around for help. A bus was coming my way. I waved my hand and it stopped in front of me. The conductor opened the bus door and we got inside. There was an empty seat; I made Lilly sit alone on the seat, and I stood behind her. I checked her leg; there was blood spread around her legs. She was making sounds, in pain.

“What happened?” some passengers asked.

“Someone tried to rob us, and they hit my dog,” I said, with fear. I was terrified about Lilly’s health, and her blood terrified me.

Someone came near us and said, “Hey I am a veterinary doctor returning from a village after a treatment. Let me check.” He then leaned towards Lilly and did some first aid. He then gave her an injection on her arm. “Is she all right?” I said,wiping my tears.

“I think she is in a lot of pain but there is no fracture, I guess; but better take her to a hospital and check it soon,” I glanced at Lilly; the doctor tied a bandage on her leg and gave her another injection.

I kissed her head; “It’s ok baby, it will be all right” I said. “Is there any veterinary hospital nearby?” I asked the doctor.

“You may get down after two stops and in that town; you will find a hospital for animals.”

“Thank you, doctor,” I said and paid him his fees.

That was the first time in my life I felt such pain and learned how it feels when a loved one is suffering. I wondered about her risking her own life to save me from those goons. By her vocal sounds, I perceived that she was suffering from immense pain due to the injury. I kneeled next to her seat and tapped her to sleep. We got down after two stops; I took her in my arms and reached the veterinary hospital. By the time I entered the hospital, I had started sweating very badly. There, the vet tested her and confirmed that she didn’t have any fracture. I was relieved after hearing that from him. However, he told me not to make her walk on the ground for some days. He also gave some tonic and told me to feed it to her twice a day.

We stayed in a hotel that night; I fed her the medication as directed by the doctor.

I cleaned her poop and urine because she was not able to move her body. Nevertheless, I didn’t feel irked when I was doing it. I took that work as my responsibility. I kept awake all night and tapped her to sleep, on the bed. I took care of her with lots of patience. At midnight, she woke up and glanced at me silently with dimmed eyes. She didn’t even blink her eyes; I wondered about the reason behind her reticent stare.

Chapter-9

For the next few days, Lilly and I stayed in the hotel until she recovered completely. I took care of her very diligently; I didn’t feel like it was a torture to take care of her, like earlier. Instead, I felt it was my responsibility. Even though her injury had healed, she used to limp. I took out a printed copy of her parents’ address. Despite hours of browsing, I couldn’t find any phone number of theirs.

At 2 o clock, we both went to the bus stand. I held Lilly in my hands and I was clueless about the bus to take. I enquired with other passengers, and they directed me to the right bus. We both sat in the desired bus. Every passenger looked at me curiously, and I thought that that could be because I was carrying Lilly on my chest and holding her like a child. I made her sit beside the window, and I sat behind her, in the same seat. The bus was partially filled. After a while, the bus conductor walked up to us. He wore a khaki-colored uniform and had a ticket machine in his hand. He looked at us curiously. “Dog!” he said, in a surprised tone.

“Yes, is it a crime?’ I asked.

“No, but you need to buy a ticket for the dog too.”

“OK,” I said. I reached for my purse and paid him money for two tickets. The bus was scheduled to start at 2.30 p.m. I took out her food, poured it in a paper bowl, and fed it to her. When she was eating her food, I took out my chips packet and had it. After a few minutes, the bus started with a jerk. Her golden hair was shining.

“Hey Lilly, you are going to see your parents tomorrow!” I whispered in her ear and she licked my cheek. “I will miss you when you leave me. I am sure I will burst out with tears when I leave you. However, I am still happy for you, because all I want is your happiness,” I kissed her head.

I knew that it would be tough to leave Lilly, but I felt like her happiness was my priority—then my joy of being with her. The bus travelled without any halt for the next hundred kilometres and then, it halted in the bus station of a small village. I thought of going to the washroom and glanced at Lilly; she was sleeping. I kept my bag on my shoulders. I got down from the bus and looked around; the whole bus station was crowded. Some people were holding their luggage on their heads, and some were holding it in their hands. Some people were selling chips and beverages to passengers from outside. I searched for the bathrooms and found them after a while. I washed my face and wiped it with a napkin. When I got back to my platform, my bus had left without me I became frantic and asked about the bus to passengers. They replied that it left a few minutes ago.

I ran towards the entrance of the bus station and looked around. There was no bus nearby. I rushed to the nearest auto and said, “Excuse me. My bus to Sholapur just left the bus station, and I missed it. How can I catch it?” my heart was pounding.

“I am sure the bus will be heading to the highway” he replied, with his finger in his ear.

“How can I reach there?” I asked.

“I can take you there, but I can’t assure you that we will find your bus.”

“First, please take me to the highway quickly!” I said, without a pause.

“For that, you need to pay money,” he said, looking at himself in the auto mirror.

I gave him a few thousand rupees. “Please take me quickly; the bus has my dog in it.”

“Ok, sit quickly,” he said, adjusting his shirt.

I jumped into his auto. He then turned on his engine and took me to the busy streets. I kept my head out from the auto and glanced ahead for a glimpse of my bus.

“Please, go fast” I requested.

The driver accelerated and overtook all the vehicles, which were ahead of us. I panicked at the thought of losing Lilly. Sweat was rolling on my forehead. I became very anxious and concerned about Lilly when, for a moment, we were stuck in a traffic signal.

“Go fast,” I said.

“What am I supposed to do if the vehicles are not giving me the way?” he said, looking sideways. The driver honked repeatedly. Despite that, no vehicle gave us the way. After a few minutes, the traffic cleared and we reached the highway. Nevertheless, I couldn’t see the bus anywhere near my auto.

“I think we have lost the bus,” the driver said. “Please go ahead a little; I will pay you extra money.”

I thought I had lost Lilly and became concerned about what could have happened to her. How would I catch the bus?” What if I fail to catch the bus? What would happen to Lilly? Where would she go, with an injury?

After a while, I saw my bus, which was a little away from us. “That’s the bus,” I said to the driver, pointing towards it.

“Are you sure, sir?” he asked.

“Yes, look; there is a hoarding of ‘Sholapur’ on it.”

The driver overtook the bus. I got down from the auto and blocked the way of the bus by waving my hand. The bus halted in front of me; soon afterward, I reached the entry door and got inside.

“I missed the bus—you left without waiting for me,” I said to the driver.

“How would we know about the passengers? This is not a private bus,” he replied, changing the gear of the bus.

I looked at Lilly; she was barking at me from our seat in the last row.

“Your dog has been barking since you left,” the conductor said, “we were about to get her off if you didn’t come.”

I walked up to her and kissed her head. She barked at me persistently. “I am sorry Lilly; I will never let you alone again, sorry.” I kissed her head repeatedly and she then licked my face. I was relieved; all the passengers were staring at us.

Our bus continued the journey to our destination. We reached Sholapur at 7:00 p.m. We both took a hotel room in the city. When Lilly was sleeping, I walked down to the reception and enquired about the location of Lilly’s parents. The receptionist told me the exact location, reachable in an easy way. When I went back to the room, Lilly was sleeping on the bed. I slept beside her and patted her hair with my hands.

I recalled how I felt when she was away for a few hours and thought how frantic I was. I understood that I couldn’t live without her and her departure from my life would be very painful for me.

“How could I live without you, Lilly?” I said to her. “How can I live without you?” I kissed her forehead, “Who will play hide-seek-and fetch games with me? I am sure no other dog or a person can replace you in my heart.”

I thought about the initial days of Lilly in my life—how I met her on the streets. I laughed thinking about the embarrassing situation when I kissed her mouth; I smiled thinking about all those beautiful memories of us. I remembered how I was without her, my character and the change she brought in me and how she made me a better person. She taught me that a relationship was not just about having sex and that a relationship was being patient, being responsible, loyal, and compassionately taking care of the partner. I realized and regretted being a hedonist all my life. From then on, I decided to follow all rules, which I learned from Lilly’s presence, of a relationship, and value it whenever I got into a relationship with a girl. In addition, I promised myself that I wouldn’t see a girl for physical pleasure anymore. I didn’t know what to do. I regretted and felt the pain of the girls whom I had dumped. I recalled all those painful things which I said to them. Their faces flashed in my mind and they were tearful, filled with pain. I regretted breaking their hearts and realized how my words might have hurt them.

I couldn’t sleep thinking about the next day. So, I went to the balcony, sat on the chair, and glanced at the traffic on the ground. After a while, Lilly walked up to me.

“Hey Lilly, what happened? Aren’t you sleepy?”

She shook her head to say ‘no,’ like a human–but rapidly. She jumped on my lap and tried to adjust to rest on my lap. She licked my jaw and ears repeatedly. She appeared very happy.

“Hey what happened? Stop it, Lilly, please”, I was glad that she was in my life and transformed me into the right person.

She looked into my eyes; her eyes showed real love towards loved ones.

“From tomorrow, you are going to be with your parents,” I said looking at her. “Will you forget me after a few days?”

She barked, and I felt her breath on my face. She understood every word I was saying. I held her in my arms. “I love you, Lilly. I am happy that you will be delighted with your parents. However, I will miss you when you leave me. Don’t worry; I will live with your memories.”

I kissed her cheek, “I will live with your memories, rather than suffering thinking about the past.”

She blinked repeatedly and stared into my eyes silently. The vehicles were honking beneath me. After a few seconds,

Lilly slept on my lap and I didn’t want to disturb her. We both slept on the chair in the balcony.

Chapter-10

It was 10:00 a.m. on Monday morning, and we were walking on the footpath. I was holding Lily on my chest, like a baby, and I could feel her heartbeat on my shoulders. People were staring at me curiously like I was walking with an alien. After walking a few meters, I felt tired. Therefore, I kept Lily on the ground and adjusted the bag on my shoulders. I rechecked the address of her parents on the piece of paper and confirmed it with the people around me. According to the address, her parents’ house was in an apartment in a gated community. I glanced at Lily; she seemed tired. I thought that making her travel more would be a bad idea. So, we walked to a nearby café. When we stepped inside, the cafe was partially filled. The whole cafe had wooden chairs and tables; the walls had paintings of flowers and fishes. We sat in one of the corner tables and the cafe owner smiled at me. He was wearing a red shirt with checks, had short hair, and was clean-shaved.

“Nice dog,” the owner said.

I blinked twice. I sensed the café owner was not frightened of Lily. He stroked Lily’s head softly, and she seemed to like him too. That was the best thing I liked about Lily. She always allowed everyone to touch her unless they were dubious.

“Thank you.” “What’s her name?” “Lily” I replied.

He walked up to us and touched Lily with his hand. She allowed him to pat her head.

“So, what would you like to have?” he queried. “I would like to have a veg sandwich” I ordered. “What about her?’ he said rubbing her head. “Do you have warm milk?”

“Of course, we do,”

‘Could you please get me some, so that I can pour the milk in her bowl?” I requested.

“Sure,” he smiled.

There were only two waiters for the cafe and they were busy serving food to the customers. After a few minutes, the owner brought us the food we ordered, with a smile. He kept it on our table. The milk was in a glass bottle; Lily licked her mouth when she saw the milk.

“It seems like she likes milk,” the owner smiled. “Yes, it’s her breakfast meal.”

“OK, have a nice meal,” he half-smiled and left us.

I poured the milk in her bowl and kept it on the floor, in front of her. I then had my sandwich. She drank the milk in a minute, without leaving a single droplet. I thought it would be our last meal together and I would no longer feed her. I rubbed her head smoothly, she sneezed. I wondered how Lily would react when I left her in her house and what she would do after my departure.

Would she suffer like me? Would she say a happy goodbye to me? Which one would she select?

I preferred the latter because I knew that I couldn’t leave her if she were brokenhearted.

After a few minutes, I thought to leave Lily in the café due to her leg injury. Even though it was cured, I didn’t want to trouble her. Her parents’ house was a little far away from our current location.

I looked at the cafe owner and I called him to my table. He walked with a smile and asked, “How was the food?”

“It’s very nice,” I said and paid the bill. “Excuse me. Could you do me a favor?”

“Yes sure, please go ahead.”

“I need to find a family and I don’t want to trouble my dog.

Would you mind if I left her here?”

With a second of pause, he said, “Yes, of course, you can leave your dog here.”

“That’s great; thank you.” I took her belt out from the bag, tied it to her neck, and handed it to the café owner. I leaned down on my knees and said, “Hey Lily, I will be back quickly. You need to stay here for a while. Understand?’

She growled.

“I will be back in a few minutes, don’t trouble him. Be a good girl. Understand?”

She licked her mouth and made some vocal sounds. When I walked to the entrance door, she was staring at me silently. I realized that she had understood.

I had walked a few miles and searched for the address when I found the desired gated community. I matched the address and realized that I had reached our destination. The whole gated community had ten storied white buildings, and they were not interconnected to each other. I reached out to the security person who was standing in front of the big, black gates.

“Excuse me.” “Yes.”

“I would like to meet Mr. Pandey,” I said.

“Which Pandey—what’s his first name? We have more than five people in this community,” the security guard said.” Wait a sec please” I said and took out my phone. But unfortunately, my battery was dead.

“I am not sure about the first name,” I said.

“It’s hard to tell his house number with the last name, sir, because there are more than a thousand families in this gated community.”

“Please help, at least let me in and search every house.”

He smiled. “Have you lost your mind, sir? It would take a lot of time and energy,” he declared.

“It’s OK, I will handle that.”

“As you wish,” he said. “Ramesh, open the gates.”

I stepped inside with my bag and there was a big water fountain in front of the buildings. Some children were cycling; after walking a few meters, I saw that there were numbers written on every building, followed by the block name. I stepped inside the first block and checked the name on every the door of each floor for the next thirty minutes. However, my efforts failed, and I couldn’t find anyone with the last name ‘Pandey.’ I searched in the following three blocks and found two Pandeys. But unfortunately, they were not the desired ones. I checked the picture of Mr. Pandey repeatedly and matched it with the faces of the Pandeys whom I met.

Despite my efforts, I couldn’t find the right Pandey. When I went inside the ninth block, the lifts were busy. So, I took the stairs. I checked in the first and second floors, and then went to the third floor and checked every name on the entrance door. I found a door titled ‘Manish Pandey’ on the corner. I knocked on the door; after some time, Mr. Pandey opened the door. It was the same person as the picture, given by my security guard in Pune. I checked my phone again and smiled at him. He was looking very similar to the picture—bald head with a fat belly. His belt was below his belly. He was looking very similar to Lily’s dad; just a little different from the picture.

“Excuse me, what do you want?” he said, in a husky voice. “Are you Mr. Pandey?”

“Yes, how can I help you?” he asked.

“Sir, I am having your dog” I smiled with much excitement. “Dog? Which dog?’

“Lily” I responded.

“Lily! We didn’t have any dog by that name,” he replied recklessly.

“Sorry, I mean Sasha, the golden retriever. I found her in Mumbai.”

I then showed him the picture of Lily excitedly. “What the heck! Did you bring that dog by any chance?”

“Yes, she is with me. But she is in a nearby café. I will bring her to you.”

“No need for that.”

My voice cut into silence, “What are you saying, sir?”

“I mean to say is that there is no need to bring her to us. Are you mad? Who told you to bring that dog here? We didn’t even register a missing dog complaint.”

The way he spoke about Lily confused me. I couldn’t believe how a person could talk about his dog like that! How could someone like him not have the slightest idea of what it felt like loving someone? How could he abandon his dog like that? How couldn’t he understand that even dogs can love and have feelings like humans?

“But she loves you very much and is missing you and your family very much” I explained.

“The reason we left that dog over there was we didn’t require her anymore. Moreover, we don’t need her, because we bought a new dog.”

“How could you do that, sir? How could you break her heart like that? She loves you very much,” my eyes became watery.

“We just treated her like a dog that’s it, and it has become old. I am sure it won’t survive beyond a year,” he said and rubbed his ear.

“But she loves you very much, sir. Please don’t break her heart,” I requested.

“We have always treated her like a dog, and it has now become old. There is no use of that dog; don’t create any trouble here. I am warning you. Our new dog is young and active. She is useless to us; I am sure she won’t live for more than a year. We all were bored with her; we wanted a new one.”

I saw myself in him and traveled back to all the memories of my past where I broke the hearts of girls, how I was reckless, and behaved rudely to get rid of them.

I shut my eyes for a moment. “How could you do that? Please, sir. Don’t break her heart. She is not a machine. She has feelings, like all of us.”

He was beginning to look irritated. “We have lost interest in her”.

I felt like I was watching myself in him and recalled how I broke many innocent girls’ hearts. I realized that he was reflecting on my behaviour.

“I am warning you; don’t bring that dog to us. We are happy with the new one,” he said and closed the door on my face.

I collapsed on the floor and cried thinking about them and Lily.

How could I convince Lily? How could I explain to her that her parents were not interested in taking her back?

I didn’t know what to say about her parents to Lily, and I was afraid that it would break her heart. I didn’t want that to happen because I was not ready and courageous enough to see her in pain. Many things were troubling me—my past mistakes and my present situations. I found myself feeling many things I hadn’t felt for years, and some old memories were troubling me. When I thought about Lily’s death, it gave me much pain. I was not aware that she would die quickly because I was clueless about the life span of dogs and the age of Lily.

I finally made a move and walked down the stairs. My heart twisted when I heard about her life-span and rejection from her owners.

Chapter-11

I had no clue about what I should say to Lilly. As the evening loomed, I went back to the cafe and was afraid to look into her eyes. When I opened the cafe door, she walked up to me delightfully, as if she was meeting me after years. I knelt and kissed her head.

“Your dog didn’t even eat food since you left,” the cafe owner said.

I looked at her, “Why Lily?”

I wondered about the kind of love she had. I was flattered by her loyalty, which reminded me about my past and how I was unfaithful in love; how I thought that relationships were only for physical desires. Her love made me realize the real meaning of a relationship. I could see the exhilaration on my arrival in her eyes.

She cuddled with me.

“Thank you for watching her,” I half-smiled at the cafe owner.

“My pleasure,” he bowed his head.

I glanced at Lily and gave her a blank look. I was a little tired and thought I wouldn’t be able to pick her up. I held her chain and we came out of the café; she was walking behind me. I was broken and deeply hurt for two reasons; one was that her parents did not want to take her back and the other was that she could die in a year.

How could dogs live such short lives despite being loyal and giving unconditional love? How could a human-like me, who always thought about only sex in a relationship and has hurt many people, live a hundred years? Why? Why?

We both walked to the nearest park and sat on the wooden bench; she sat beside me. We both sat in silence, gazing at the green trees. I couldn’t stop my tears; I cried for a moment, silently thinking about Lily’s death. I was not able to bear the pain of losing her forever. She turned towards me. Licking my tears and mouth, she barked at me.

I turned towards her and held her cheeks, “Your parents didn’t accept you, Lilly; they told me that you will die in a year.”

Our heads touched each other.

“Why do dogs live for only fifteen years? In addition, we cruel humans live for a hundred years. You dogs are far better than us, and we should learn loyalty in love from you. Please don’t die, Lilly,” I said, crying.

She continued licking my tears and eyes. I kissed her on her head, “I can’t live without you Lilly; how can I live without you? Before you, I believed that relationships are just for physical pleasures. I have realized that relationships are about taking care of loved ones; that relationships are about compassion, patience, and being tolerant. Now, I can’t believe that you will die after a year. I am sure no one can replace you; why don’t you take my life-span and live more, Lilly?”

She walked up to me and looked into my eyes silently for a few seconds. Her eyes said that she would live with love forever.

She continued licking my tears. Despite her pampering, I couldn’t stop crying. She walked a little further away, rolled over on the green grass, and barked at me. She then stretched her hands and barked, looking at me. I understood that she wanted me to play and she was trying to stop my crying. She stretched her legs and crawled on the grass, mimicking a seal and changing her tone.

I smiled while tears were still on my cheeks.

She then woke up and spun around herself, chasing her tail.

I smiled again, wiping my tears.

She then caught my bag with her teeth, got down from the bench, and started searching for something from the pack. I wiped my tears and wondered what she could be searching for.

She took out her ball from the bag, with her mouth, jumped back behind me, and tried to keep it in my hands.

“Not now, Lilly. I am not in the mood to play.”

However, she didn’t give up and continued forcing me to play the fetch-game; she caught my pants and pulled me towards her. She grabbed me with her teeth.

“Lily, no. Please.”

She continued dragging me. She then rolled over on the chopped grass. Then, she stood up, barked repeatedly, and pushed the ball with her nose towards me.

I didn’t know how to convince her and couldn’t say to her that she would die. My heart broke. She didn’t appear like an old dog. I didn’t want to disappoint her, so I took the ball from her mouth and threw it a little far away from us. She chased the ball and brought it back within seconds. I heaved again, and she brought it back again. It continued for another ten-fifteen minutes; I forgot about the pain and started enjoying the game with her. Finally, she made me smile. I realized that she did that on purpose, to make me forget about my pain. I threw the ball again with great force, and when she was chasing the ball, I chased her too. I realized that dogs were the most beautiful animals in our world and could make us forget about our pain. I had even forgotten her future and was enjoying that moment.

We both enjoyed every day; we had visited six wonders of this world. I posted almost every picture of us in my Facebook

and Instagram page. We both were in Paris and visited the Eiffel tower, which was our last wonder in our bucket list. It was an evening at 7 Pm, still, I could see everyone around me and the whole city. The sky was dusky and strikingly beautiful. The skylight was particularly haunting. It was a beautiful view from the top of the tower. People around us were taking pictures. The tower was covered in golden lights and sparkled for five whole minutes while the Eiffel Tower’s beam lights up the city. I starred at Lilly, even she was enjoying the view. She appeared very old, I took out my mobile and we both took a selfie.

"It is a very beautiful view Lilly, do you like this?"

She barked twice.

After our visit, we gone back to my bike parking area and then wrapped the belt on Lilly's shoulders. I sat and tied Lilly's belt to my shoulders belt. I did that deliberately for the precaution of Lilly, I was concerned about her fall from the bike while driving.

“Lilly, are you ready?” I asked looking sideways.She barked

“What’s next? “I said raising my bikes accelerator.

She howled for a second

“Okay, okay, I got it”