Dog Days

Sunday 7.30 AM

The joy of driving a Yam down the empty highway, feeling the breeze in your hair, the tall marsh grass forming a blanket of green on either side of the road as far as the eye can see, ....and joy of joys, the sun peeks out from behind the clouds after days of hiding from the rain, the sky is a beautiful shade of blue interspersed with interesting cirrus-cumulus patterns...hmm, guess this is what they literally meant by 'every cloud has a silver li'....

Bang! Crunch!....Howl!

It takes me close to 10 seconds to regain my balance on the bike and look back apprehensively at the accident I seemed to have caused with my day-dreaming. The road behind me remains as deserted as ever except for a stray dog writhing in a grotuesquely contorted position, howling its head off.


Shit! That looks bad! Why didn't I just finish her off and spare her the agony?

Wha..?? Is that your first reaction? Go and see if you can help the dog instead of thinking like a murderer!

But she's just limped off into the grass, not much chance of finding her now....guess she limped off to die in peace.

That's no reason for you to wish that it had died. Would you have felt the same if it was a person you had knocked down and not a dumb animal?

No, I wouldn't...because I would have known what to do in that case, first aid, call for help,...and he wouldn't have crawled into the bushes!

Ha!...excuses! You just know you aren't accountable for killing an animal. After all, it happens all the time! When was the last day you didn't see the mangled remains of a dog hit by a speed-maniac on the highway, and watch it getting flattened by every passing vehicle till it was indistinguishable from the road?

Exactly! So how can I be blamed for my spontaneous reaction? I've just been so damn desensitised to the whole issue! In fact, I deserve credit for hoping the dog wouldn't suffer!

Like hell you do! That's all a dog's life means to you, doesn't it? You're so high up on the evolutionary ladder that you can't see beyond your nose!

Not true! I care for animals. In fact, Iam just going to call Blue Cross here. They'll be better placed to help out.

Go ahead, soothe your guilty conscience. But you're just a self-righteous hypocrite, insensitive to everything around you!

Take a hike, will you? I've got a life to lead....but let me tell you, I love dogs, I truly do!



The wind seems to have picked up suddenly. The open road is as desolate as ever. The clouds form interesting patterns in the sky, but they are streaked with grey now. The sun has gone into hiding again. It might rain any moment.