A Man's Best Friend(Not A Poem, But A Story) Poem by Chom Chom

Peter’s father didn’t love Peter at all, or that is what Peter thought. His father, now in his 50s was always with his dog, Scotty. Scotty was not even a pure breed, but a common stray dog. His father had found him outside the gate of their house, whimpering and had adopted him. The dog had a fever, so medicines worth lots of money had to be brought, but his father didn’t seem to mind. And now that the dog was well, he was his father’s constant companion. Be it on a hunting trip or going to the market, the dog always followed Peter’s father. Peter hated the dog as he thought that he should be getting his father's love, but was deprived of it, because of the dog. But the dog loved Peter and often went to lick him, but Peter just pushed it aside.

After a few years, the dog died of cancer. Peter’s father didn’t allow anything to be done to the body, he burnt it himself and put the ashes in the box and kept it near him. Peter couldn’t stand this anymore. One night, when everyone was asleep, he took the box, and jumping over the fence, hid it deep in a nearby forest. In the morning, when his father learnt about this, he made Peter dig every tree he could see in the forest, but as it had been night time when Peter buried the box, he couldn’t remember where exactly he had buried it. After the tries went in vain, the hatred between Peter and his father grew to an extreme level.

Peter was growing up and had to be sent to the city for education. He left his house with the blessings of his mother. After a few years, he learnt that both his mother and father had died in an unfortunate accident. As there was no electricity in the house, Peter lit all the candles he could find and went into his old room. He poured out some soft drinks which he had brought from the city and began to drink. Suddenly, he heard a scratching noise against the door. Peter began to feel scared when he heard the dook creaking open. He gathered courage and peeked at the main door and saw an unbelievable sight. For, there at the door, was standing Scotty. Scotty made no move to attack him, but just gave a small growl as if to say to follow him. Peter, not knowing what to do, followed him till the dog stopped at a place and began to dig furiously. Peter remembered that was where he had buried Scotty’s box years ago! Peter backed off in fright, but suddenly he saw that there was no dog. Was this a dream? He rubbed his eyes but still he saw he was in the middle of the forest. He turned and went back towards his house.

As he neared it, he saw it was on fire. The fire department was called and the fire was put out but the house was absolutely burnt. Official investigators said that most probably a candle fell on the floor, and as the whole house was made of wood, it took no time for the fire to spread. They also added that Peter had been real lucky not to have been in the house. By then Peter had realized his folly. The very next night, he went back to the place where Scotty’s box was buried. He dug until he found the box and put it at the end of his father’s grave. That night as he lay sleeping, he had a dream where his father was with his dog cuddling and loving him, but this time Peter did not feel envious, he felt happy and grateful.

Author: Baidurya Mukherjee(alias Babua, Chom Chom)