The Spotted Puppy

Abhay was fond of puppies. He demanded and pleaded with his parents to get a pet dog, but every time they gave him some reason and turned him down.

“It’s not easy to have a pet, Abhay! It’s a lot of responsibilities. Humans can speak and ask for what they want, but pets can’t.

Just imagine if we do not understand the needs of the animal, how miserable it will be for him here,” dad explained.

“That’s not all! If we go out on vacation, there will be no one to take care of it. We won’t be able to take it with us, nor leave it alone,” said mom.

Abhay would get sad. He knew his parents were right, but he really wanted a pup.

One day, Abhay left for school when he heard a low cry. He looked around. In a shallow drain near Uncle Sharma’s house were some tiny puppies! Abhay carefully looked at them. They were of different colours—black, grey, white, spotted—all huddled together.

Abhay stared at them for a while and then started counting them. Before he could count, the puppies huddled together, making him forget his count.

Abhay giggled. He separated them and started counting again.

While he was counting, their mother came back and looked at Abhay, bared her teeth and growled.

Abhay stepped back. He knew the mother was being protective about her babies.

His school van also arrived so he left for school. But throughout the day, Abhay’s mind was occupied by the puppies.

After returning home, he quickly changed, had his lunch, and sat down to finish his homework. Mom was pleased to see him studying and went for her usual rest.

“Mom will take a nap for an hour now.

I’ll go and play with the puppies till she wakes up,” thought Abhay as he smiled and went out.

Bobo, the mother of the puppies, was not around. She had probably gone out to eat.

Abhay picked up the puppies and started petting them. He loved the spotted puppy and picked it up and walked home with it.

Mom was still asleep when he entered.

Abhay took an old shoebox, placed some towels inside and put the puppy in it. He put some milk in a bowl and tried feeding it to the puppy, but it could not drink properly.

Abhay could not take the puppy inside the house, for if mom came to know she would ask him to take it back. And Abhay did not want that.

He started thinking of ways to convince dad and mom so they would let him keep the puppy.

An hour passed. Abhay was still playing with the puppy. He heard his mother wake up. He covered the shoebox and quickly started riding his bicycle. Mom did not suspect anything.

When dad came home from work and called Abhay, he went inside the house, keeping the shoebox covered with the puppy still in it.

Meanwhile, Bobo came back and started looking for her lost puppy who heard his mother and came out of the shoebox.

Bobo realised that her puppy was inside Abhay’s house but couldn’t get in as the door was shut.

Bobo stood outside the main door, barking. The pup ran to the door but could not go out. Bobo tried to get inside but she could not either.

Mother and child, each on one side of the door, were helpless.

Bobo’s barking made a lot of noise. Mom went out and saw the puppy and the shoebox.

She realised what had happened. She opened the door and the pup ran out to its mother. Bobo picked up the puppy gently by its neck and went back to her other pups.

Abhay saw the whole thing. He was upset when he saw the pup leave. Mom called him inside the house but did not say anything about this.

“Abhay, I’m going to grandma’s place for a few days. She’s not keeping well. You will be here with your sad,” she said, while packing her bag.

Abhay started thinking. He had never been away from mom. From the time he woke up in the morning till he went to bed at night—mom was there for his meals, homework and games. The thought of spending even one day without her around gave him shivers.

Then he saw the pups and Bobo pass by the house.

“How selfish of me! I can’t live a day without mom, and I was planning to separate the pup from its mother forever,” thought Abhay, feeling bad about what he had done.

“Abhay! Let mom go! We’ll bring the spotted pup home tomorrow. You can play with him and you won’t even notice that mom’s gone,” said dad.

“No, dad! Even that pup wouldn’t want to stay away from his mom. I saw how much he was crying today. I don’t want the pup to be separated from his mom just like how I don’t want mom to go,” said Abhay and hugged his mom.

“I’m not going anywhere! I was just trying to show you that just like you can’t stay away from me, baby animals also need to stay with their mothers,” smiled mom.

The spotted pup stood outside the door and wagged its tail.

Go to the Jungle, Sam

Dr. Fancy and Mac were headed to the jungle in the African savannah. Sam, the lion, was sitting quietly with them in their jeep.

Dr. Fancy caressed Sam’s head affectionately and said, “Sam, lions are supposed to live in jungles, not in human homes. You should also learn to enjoy living in the jungle.”

Sam hung his head low. Dr. Fancy again said in a loving tone, “I understand, Sam. You must be thinking how will you live alone without us, isn’t it? Sam, you have grown up now. You can certainly live on your own. You don’t need to be scared. All the lions of the jungle are just like you. The only difference would be that they would be ahead of you in certain things. But then, even you are a lion! So don’t be frightened.”

Dr. Fancy’s words could do nothing to soothe Sam’s fears. He turned his face in the other direction and sat quietly.

Some years ago, Dr. Fancy and Mac had brought Sam home. He was just a cub then. He had lost his mother and looked very vulnerable.

Dr. Fancy and Mac had raised him in their home, but when Sam grew up; they realized his need to live in a jungle. So they decided to take him to his real home in the African jungle.

Sam was now a pet lion. He had grown very close to Dr. Fancy in all these years. Naturally, he was upset at their decision.

Soon they reached the jungle. It was time to leave Sam there.

“Sam, don’t be scared. We will stay with you until you get comfortable here. So Sam, go on. See what the jungle is like. After all, this is going to be your home,” Dr. Fancy kissed him tenderly.

Sam walked on. He had tears in his eyes, but what could he do? He couldn’t disobey Dr. Fancy. Also, he was curious to see the jungle.

He had just gone a little further when he saw some wild buffaloes. Sam became stiff upon seeing them.

When the wild buffaloes saw him scared, they saw this as a chance to dominate him. When they moved towards him, Sam ran back and hid behind Dr. Fancy.

“Sam, they are just wild buffaloes. You got terrified of them!” Dr. Fancy realized now that he had deprived a lion of his actual wild nature. Dr. Fancy prepared himself and trained Sam to fight them.

Sam was ready now. He walked towards the jungle again. This time he met a pack of wolves. Sam stopped in his tracks, but then he remembered Dr. Fancy’s words, “You are a lion, Sam.” Sam walked ahead with confidence. All the wolves got intimidated and ran away.

Go-to-the-Jungle,-Sam

Sam had gained some self-assurance by now. He kept wandering in the jungle through the day, but he hadn’t met any lions till then.

Later that day, Sam came running to Dr. Fancy around midnight. Dr. Fancy didn’t notice it until he switched on the torch that Sam was badly wounded.

“Oh, his condition proves that he has met other lions. They have attacked him savagely,” Mac said.

Dr. Fancy felt disappointed. Sam had not been able to fight and this fear had led him to come back to them.

It was a question of Sam’s life. He couldn’t do anything without Dr. Fancy.

Dr. Fancy began giving him intense training from the next day. Sam would enter the jungle every day, but would come back injured.

After a few days, Sam didn’t return at night. That entire night the jungle reverberated with the roars of lions. Dr. Fancy got very worried about Sam.

With the breaking of the dawn, Dr. Fancy and Mac set out to find Sam. What they saw lit their faces up.

Go-to-the-Jungle,-Sam

It was Sam, who had injured four lions. Sam had woken up to his nature. Now he was ready to be a part of the jungle. Sam strengthened this belief and Dr. Fancy was happy now.

Sam had made a place for himself in the jungle now. All the lions were afraid of him. He was treated as the king of the jungle.

Seeing this Dr. Fancy and Mac were happy. They gathered their stuff and moved towards their vehicle. Right then, they saw Sam running towards them.

“Hey Sam! What are you doing here? Have you come to bid us goodbye?” Dr. Fancy and Mac became very emotional. “There is no danger to you now. I am happy that you will be able to become the king of the jungle.

I was worried about your safety, but now that fear is gone. You are very brave. Go, and be happy in the jungle.”

Dr. Fancy patted Sam’s cheek, but Sam had tears in his eyes. He climbed up the vehicle, as if saying, “You wanted me to be brave, and I did that. Now take me back. I can’t live without you.”

Dr. Fancy read Sam’s feelings from his eyes and hugged him tightly while sobbing himself.

“How will I live without you, Sam? What a fool was I that I thought that you were coming to us out of fear, but you were coming for us and even now you are pleading so much. But Sam, your future is in the jungle. Please understand.”

Dr. Fancy caressed Sam. Mac switched on the ignition, but Sam didn’t get down.

Go-to-the-Jungle,-Sam

Dr. Fancy insisted on waiting for a few hours and then the vehicle sped towards the city. Sam was still sitting in the rear seat.