Shade
Lucy sat quietly in the corner of the room. The place was new to her and the air didn’t smell friendly. Her food and water was kept at the corner of the tiny , dingy room . No, Lucy wasn’t hungry, even though she didn’t have a morsel in the last thirty-six hours.
Thirty six hours! And her life changed forever.
It was their beautiful little paradise that they lived in- Rinku and Lucy.
Lucy remembered the first day when she was taken to the studio apartment.
Rinku’s landlady wasn’t pleased, “ Do you think that it makes sense to bring in a dog when you live here all by yourself, alone? Fine you work from home, but what if she starts spoiling all the furniture or causes problems for others? You have to vacate the house then and there, let me tell you now…”
Rinku had picked up Lucy from the streets, the latter would have come under the wheels of a vehicle had she not saved her. Lucy was barely twenty days old then.
In no time Lucy became the apple of her mistress’ eyes. Lucy was growing into a beautiful female dog – extremely gentle and loving, with a pair of big, shining eyes. Lucy meant the world to Rinku!
Things were going well… until the deadly flu attacked young Rinku unannounced and took her life, leaving Lucy all alone.
The landlady wanted to get rid of Lucy immediately and would have thrown her on streets. A kind neighbour took pity on her and brought her to this animal shelter.
The old dogs of the shelter were aggressive and tried to attack her several times. The volunteers of the shelter rescued her each time and finally isolated her in a kennel till the time she was adopted by some kind soul.
Lucy was missing Rinku; her eyes desperately looking for Rinku everywhere.
“ Why are you so silent , Rinku? What happened to you, Rinku?...” there were so many questions that Lucy wanted to ask when Rinku’s lifeless body was being taken away by some strange people, in front of her eyes. Nobody paid heed to Lucy’s presence.
Suddenly, as Lucy blankly stared at the wall, she saw a shadow on it.
Woof! Lucy barked. The shadow barked back.
Crouching, Lucy barked again and the shadow repeated her act. Lucy felt intimidated, her eyes fixed on the shadow.
Oh Rinku, where are you? Please come and sit next to me Rinku, please put your hand on my head once again… please come back to me, Rinku! Lucy’s heart bled in pain.
Slowly she saw, another shadow on the wall. The shadow of the figure was known to her – Rinku!
She saw the shadow quietly sitting next to the shadow of the dog on the wall, gently stroking the head of the four legged.
Lucy heaved a sigh and closed her eyes; her head seemed light, as if someone touched and stroked it, exactly as before….
Penmancy gets a small share of every purchase you make through these links, and every little helps us continue bringing you the reads you love!