The disappearance of Sherlock

 

 

 

We’ve always loved pets.  Ever since I was little we’ve always grown up with dogs.  Our third dog Cleo was fortunate to move in with us to Kandy from Colombo and boy wasn’t she the happiest dog there was!  She was living life! Running around and simply having this carefree look on her gentle face.  She and I unfortunately weren’t very close.  She loved my brother dearly and my father. I, was the least favorite. 

 We had the pleasure of seeing little Cleo puppies, she gave birth to five beautiful puppies.  Two of which we kept and the other three we gave away to family and friends for free.  They’re all doing well, very well.  The two we kept were a boy and a girl.  The first born and the last. The two puppies and Cleo were a wonderful site, a happy site.  Until, one day when Cleo would refuse to walk that’s when we realized something was not right.  Cleo had got tick fever and was in a very bad state.  After 3 days in the hospital the vet told us to take her home. In two days Cleo was no more.   I still remember that day as if it were yesterday.  It broke all of us in ways I don’t know how to explain in ways that words cannot explain.  There are many things that we can express through our words like Love, Gratitude, Anger, Sadness but, death….  For that there are no words. Later we realized that the puppies too had got tick fever, we were devastated.  The puppies were the only memory we had of Cleo, they were her legacy.  We “had” to protect them.  The puppies fortunately recovered and my brother and I during this entire time were struggling to name our pets.  Malli finally decided to name his Hayley.  And I, I named my golden handsome puppy ….. Sherlock!  I love Sherlock Holmes and I could think of no better name for the puppy!! His name bears all the qualities any one should have.  Smart, loyal and terribly handsome.  They were now growing fast and were truly nothing but an absolute pleasure and joy to have.

  Danger and sadness are all but feelings and events that take place in one’s life without warning. One fine day hours passed and we realized that Sherlock was missing.  We assumed that the two puppies were sleeping in my dad’s room but to our horror they had gone missing.  An hour into searching and we found Hayley but Sherlock… there was no sign of him.  I live in the midst of a jungle and believe me I am not exaggerating we have wild boar and deer and rabbits now if this isn’t a jungle then I am not sure what is, not to mention we have PLENTY of monkeys as well. 

I had never explored the forests in my village and this was certainly no pleasant way to explore one’s village.  The forest was dark.  And with each step I took my fears grew greater.  We shouted at the top of our lungs we walked into the depths of the jungle till we couldn’t see the road.  We even went on to the top of the road.  My dad and I searched past 11 in the night while malli and ammi looked after Hayley.  Appachchi and I even went to the other side of the mountain and climbed the steep hill screaming for Sherlock.  We didn’t find him.  While my heart filled with sadness It was also filled with regret. 

Although I was fond of Sherlock I never made any effort to play with him nor even pet him.  There would be days where I wouldn’t even see Sherlock. All because to me nothing else mattered more than studying and getting A’s and everything else genuinely I couldn’t be bothered about and seemed like a waste of time.  As I went to bed that night I realized to not love fully is to not live fully.  My life always revolved around books and the path to success, anything in between I never paid any attention too. 

Apart from my parents I didn’t have many to call my friends even with my brother I was growing distant. I often thought that it was peoples fault if they didn’t want to be friends with me.  I thought pshhss they’ve got something wrong I mean if they don’t want to be friends why should I care?  But no truer words were said than to be loved one must love too.  Why didn’t I have many friends? Why wasn’t Cleo fond of me? all because I didn’t truly love them whole heartedly.

 I didn’t want my story with Sherlock to have an ending of regret I wanted him to have the time of his life and I wanted him to have a friend. I, wanted a friend.  Of all my weak traits one good trait I do have is that I never give up.  So the following morning I woke up and continued my search.  This time I was horrified. I was walking down a steep mountain.  And all I could think of was that if Sherlock went down this road his fate would not be pretty.  We searched, I shouted, I searched every nook and cranny and even spoke to the villagers at the end of the mountain when I suddenly received a call from amma, she was screaming saying” Chooti du Sherlock came home!!”  my legs at that very instant gave way. When I went home Sherlock was there without a scratch he looked drained though.  He and I both slept for an entire day.  And ever since that day I feel that he and I are growing stronger in our friendship. When I wondered how and why that may have been, amma told me that she felt that Sherlock knew in his heart of hearts that I was doing everything in my power and tried my darnest to find him.  He knew.  That was the turning point.

 What is life if we do not love, if we do not love fully.  Love comes in various ways.  But to receive love, to be loved first one must love whole heartedly, truly and unapologetically.