A Relationship That Never Existed
If you’re searching for another romantic love story, let me straight away crush your thoughts. This ain’t any love relationship story of me being a Romeo and wiping my tears off for my hypothetical Juliet. Like every other person, you also got confused? Well, it’s not your fault, the title has been chosen deliberately to grab your attention. Instead, it’s quite more than that. It’s my eternal affection for my dearest Stacy. So, who Stacy is?
She ‘was’ my 2-month-old pup. Heh, she is still alive. Then, why ‘was’ has been used in the previous sentence? Also, why the title has been named ‘A Relationship that never existed’?
All the answers are needed to be unfolded. This article is concentrated on life lessons that, an innocent pet had taught until she stayed with me. Before that, I wanted to ask the reader, if you will be there with me in discovering one of the learning phases of my life. If your answer is ‘A BIG YES’, fill your mug of coffee, sip it and go on.
Arrival Lesson — “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”
“I’m super excited”, I proclaimed joyfully. “What for?”, my mom replied monotonously. “Stacy is coming home today”. Being a pet lover, my happiness was at the next level. Then after an ice-breaking pause, she asked, “Stacy?”. “I’m going to call her by this name”. I replied, and my mom liked the name too.
A week ago from Stacy’s arrival, I was trying my efforts for convincing mom to buy me a pet. I agreed to do all the work meant for growing up a pet. Fortunately, I heard the news that my sister’s friend had rescued a female pup. I immediately asked my sister to call her friend and bring the pup to our home. I googled dogs stuff, read almost every article about pets on the internet. Everything went fine and Stacy was going to come home.
On having her first glance, I was so cheered. Maybe the aura of the pet is fabulous. I took her in my lap and fondled her. My life was changed from then onwards. I started waking up early as I was the one who provided her meals. If she scrubbed feces anywhere, it was my duty to clear the floor immediately to avoid germs. I made a small dog house as well and cleaned that every day. My day used to start with her and ultimately end with it. Trust me, if all this doesn’t seem to be tiring work, pet a dog for some days, you will get to know.
Though playing with her, seeing her smile removes all my pains. She was innocently cute. I then recalled, the quote, “Remember, with great power comes great responsibilities.” My power was Stacy and taking care of her is my responsibility. Her arrival taught me the first lesson, and I didn’t know many more were yet to come.
Lessons 2 — “Set Your Purpose, and you’ll conquer the world”
When Stacy used to be in a mood to play, she starts running on the whole floor, from the hall to every room, and repeating the same track. In between, sometimes, I restrict her way. She then starts to fight with me. The little one adjusts herself in an attacking position, bends her head down, raises her eyebrows, and makes growling sounds. Though, she was as tiny as a newborn baby but always put all her efforts to surpass me. She never gave a second thought to defeat me. Neither, she looked terrible to fight someone giant compared to her size. She always succeeded to conquer me, as her intentions were bold.
Stacy taught me her next lesson, knowing the difference between traction and distraction is the key. It’s when you do things unintentionally, you get into trouble. But if your intentions are determined, you are worthy enough. The trick to being productive is to be purposeful. When your purpose is fixed, your goal seems to be minute.
Lesson 3 — “Unconditional Deeds Are Always Fruitful”
My sister is not fond of pets. She always admits her fear of them. She can’t even touch them without shivering hands, so fondling is a far cry. I have tried many times to reduce her fear, but no way worked out. That’s the main reason, she wasn’t much pleasured by the decision of bringing Stacy home.
Stacy was always determined to play with her plastic squeaky rubber ball. She used to search that in the cupboard, drawer, and everywhere else where she had access. One fine day, when she didn’t get it, she looked a little sad. My sister had hidden that ball to avoid the distraction made by that squeaky noise, which I was unaware of. Stacy then sat beside my mom, who was busy worshiping. At times, Stacy used to hide below the sofa. So, when my mom stood after worshiping, Stacy went to her native place quietly.
While my sister was busy with her work, she dropped some of her important documents behind the table, where reach isn’t possible. We were struggling to pick them up. There comes Stacy, she used her miniature size wisely and picked those within no time. Impressively, my sister returned the ball and Stacy started playing again.
I was stunned that Stacy helped a person, who had hidden her stuff. Stacy unknowingly taught me what unconditional help means. If things are materialistic, let them be. Rightly said, whatever the situation is, you should play your part with full dedication, and good things will reach you on their own.
Lesson 4 — “Signs of Unhappiness Need to be Noticed”
One fine day, Stacy’s body language was changed. She seemed to be lethargic. She practiced escapism — as if nothing attracts — her behavior was rude. Her energy level was diminished to half of its original. She drank less milk than her usual diet. And the worst part was she didn’t communicate. Yes, animals have a unique way of communication. They do not speak yet makes you understand what they want to convey.
Whenever I used to put her on a table, from where she can’t jump to the floor due to her limited size. She starts making low-pitched barks and asks everyone around to put her back to the ground. But this time when I kept her almirah’s roof, she did nothing and sat there for a long duration. My mother noticed this for the first time and asked me to take her for a walk.
In the evening, I took her on the walk. A garden, where we went, near to my home is beautiful for spending time with oneself. Being Sunday, the garden was pretty much pre-occupied. Though, Stacy found her way herself. The pup was way excited about the environment. I could easily identify the drastic change she showed up with. She played with twigs, leaped over hurdles, and wandered around herself. The little one was at her peak enjoyment.
On the way home, she fought a brave battle with a dog of almost double size as her. When I saw a pack of dogs approaching her, immediately moved her on from that place. As soon as we reached home, she went to mom’s lap and rested. This was genuine as the little kid was tired. Then onwards Stacy became normal, ate meals like before, started making noisy barks. She showed all signs of happiness. Although, the whole incident may seem to be a usual one yet Stacy taught me a lesson here.
“Refreshing Yourself is a Necessity”. Being a techie guy, I used to spend my day and night in front of a Laptop, and thereby, feels frustrated at times. She taught me to go for a walk, if not every day then at least once a week. Rightly said, we should take wandering outdoor walks so that the mind might be nourished and refreshed by the open air and deep breathing.
The Final Lesson — “Never Get Too Attached”
So, let’s come to the question we had started with. Why does this relationship never exist? My parents asked me to hand over Stacy to her actual owners. I was bent out of shape by the fact that Stacy is going away from me. I tried convincing them again, but efforts were in vain.
Finally, the day had come, when Shraddha Dii, my sister’s friend was going to come to take Stacy with her. She was right at her place but I was reduced to tears. My heart was broken, feelings were on verge of an explosion and my face was like a wet weekend. I could think of nothing but to grab Stacy and hold her forever. Since morning I was keeping an eye on her as if I wanted to notice every single bit of her, capture her little actions. I was determined to save her in ROM of my brain cells so that she can’t be escaped once entered.
“Oh god, why mom why?” was my words to mom explaining how severe my pain was to let her go away. My mom smiled and handed over Stacy in my hands. Stacy was also calm by that time, maybe because she played enough for the day. She sat on my lap straight for an hour. It felt like the clock hands were tickling as fast as they can, and the time arrived. It was 5 PM when Shraddha Dii came and asked for Stacy.
The animal who was quiet for an hour jumped joyously from my lap and went to her as soon as she saw her. I was a bit surprised and got a setback. The little creature who was with me for a week pretended like I’m no one to her. Maybe yes, I was nothing to her from that moment. They stayed for half an hour and went then. Stacy was happy and playing with her squeaky ball. They left. I with my family also went to attend our family function. Everyone was normal but not me. One thought was constantly troubling me. “How can someone be so feeling-less? Is it because she is an animal or she didn’t attach with me?” Then, I realized and learned Stacy’s last lesson for life, “Never Get Too Attached To Anyone”. All the world’s a stage, and we are merely players, rightly said by Shakespeare.
This way, the relationship between me and Stacy is eternal but never existed. I believe having a pet is the best feeling in this world, what’s your call?
With this note, I end here. If you find the above piece worthy enough, make sure to tap on the clap icon and appraise. Thanks much in advance for being a good reader.
Acknowledgment: This article got published in Abhishar v11.0 on Page 34, the annual magazine of my Institute, IIIT Gwalior. Do check out the LINK. There exist more beautiful compositions. You may like it.
