How She Came to Love ‘The Beast’

It was a hot summer afternoon in the early 1990’s. A little girl, about five years old, was playing in her grandparents’ drawing room with her imaginary friends. As she sat playing, she heard the sound of a car stop at the front gate. A few seconds later, she was interrupted by a large beast that came charging into the room! It was black, with shades of grey around its face, and had a long pink tongue that was hanging out of its mouth. It pounced at her, and she fell to the ground in a mixture of shock and surprise. Then, quickly recovering, she got up and climbed up the on the couch, screaming and jumping in utter fear. Her screams brought both her grandparents running into the room with panicked faces. On seeing her jumping and running on the couch, trying to escape being bitten or scratched by the dreadful beast at her feet, her grandmother’s face softened. Her grandfather’s face, on the other hand, became stern. He let out a grunt, and then firmly ordered her to get off the couch. She tried to protest, saying that the beast would bite her. But the very next second, she decided that being killed by the beast was far less scary than her grandfather’s piercing glare. She immediately jumped off the couch.

The beast, which was waiting for a chance to get her, grew excited and began jumping all over her, wagging its bushy tail wildly and licking her all over! For what seemed to her like five long minutes, the little girl stood still without protesting, as her grandfather watched. She didn't understand it at first, but the big black furry beast suddenly didn't look that scary to her. She realised that it didn't look that beastly after all. On the other hand, she realised with growing amazement, it looked kind of cute and cuddly! As she watched the wagging of its tail, the wild joy in its eyes, and its wet pink tongue as it tickled her, she realised that she wasn't afraid of it anymore!

She named her Vicky, after the protagonist in her favourite TV show, Small Wonder. Vicky, the German Shepherd pup became her first animal friend. She and Vicky spent several hours playing during that vacation, and during every other vacation that followed for the next several years. She rode Vicky like she was her horse; she fought imaginary enemies seated on her trusted steed! They enjoyed several years of friendship together.

Now the little girl has grown to be a young lady, but even today, she sometimes looks back on those days she enjoyed with Vicky. It was little Vicky’s persistence to make friends with the screaming little girl that had given birth to her love for dogs. She had licked her way into her heart, and stayed a friend till the very end of her doggy life.

PS: I put in much thought before posting this article. I know that most people who have heard about Alan would not like to read a story about a dog. Although I don’t completely blame those who have developed a hatred for dogs since the incident, I would like to encourage you to let go of that misjudgment. We don’t go about hating all of humanity for acts of terrorism caused by some, do we? And in all fairness, that dog was a victim too – it didn't know what it was doing.