Puchkuru

A dad brings home the best gift for his daughter. The girl runs down to see. On his bike, cuddling with her dad, she sees the cutest little pup. 3 months old, all white, round black eyes and the smallest little nose. She can't believe its her's to keep. Her happiness has no bounds. The little pupper follows her around everywhere like a shadow. They bond instantly. She names her Abby. Abby grows so fond of the girl that she won't eat a bite without her, that she cries struggling her head out of a tiny gap in the fence everyday the girl leaves for college. Abby is the first the girl sees when she gets home and the last she bids her goodbyes to. The girl loves Abby like her daughter. But, something always seems off with Abby. She was brought home with deep scars on her legs. She never responds to her name or any sound. She skips meals on alternate days and always has goop around her eyes like she's been crying all night. At the vet's, the girl finds out that Abby has complete hearing disability. The reason she was abandoned by her previous owners. The scar on her legs are from her past infections. The girl's family is now less accepting of Abby, yet, the girl never stops loving her. Even with Abby's infections, she lets her sleep in her own bed. Abby always on the right, her spot. Her tiny head between the curve of the girls neck and shoulder where it perfectly fit. They both loved each other. 

Since Abby couldn't hear, the girl named her "kutiyaa", a very offensive name but, it sounded cute when she called her lovingly. "kutiyaaaa", with the longest last syllable, she'd call her. Abby had all kinds of funny, cute names, "gandarva, panaatini, Puchkuru, Sanu Maya Maharjan, Puchkandas Hiradaas Karamchand Gandhi, taruni,.."the list went on. But, Puchkuru was the name that stayed. The girl had little songs she'd sing everytime she hugged Puchkuru. Oh! She loved her!

Slowly Puchkuru starts getting weaker. Puchkuru barely eats or drinks. A bowl of milk, though her favorite, goes stale everyday. Every passing month Puchkuru develops new infections. She is infested all over her body, she starts shedding a lot of hair. She's thin and her thick white coat is now thin and translucent of her pink skin. Every three months, the girl takes her to the vet for injections. She tends to get better but then the same happens. The girl has to give up sleeping together with Puchkuru since she's now getting infections too. With a heavy heart, she makes a new bed for her in the corner of her room, right where she can see her. Puchkuru has a hard time sleeping apart. She has always been the kind who needed constant affection. Every time the girl looks at Puchkuru's bed, she always finds her looking at her with those precious black eyes. Funny thing, "Puchkuru has eyes too big for her head" the girl always thought. Her eyes, what she also loves the most. 

The girl has to stay late nights for her architecture school assignments. Late into the night, exhausted, everytime the girl puts down her pencil to stretch, she finds Puchkuru looking at her lovingly. The girl shares all her secrets, her heart breaks with Puchkuru and she always understands. Its like they connect at a level deeper than sound. Everytime the girl felt low, Puchkuru notices. The girl sheds all her tears in front of her, like a diary, she shares with her everything.

But with Puchkuru's illness, slowly they drift apart. The girl is busy on her own. She no longer has time for cuddles. She no longer searches for Puchkuru when she gets home. She no longer bothers to check if Puchkuru has eaten or if her water bowl needs refill. She only takes her to the vet when the infections are beyond severe. She still loves her, no doubt, but somehow she stops caring as much. She starts taking her for granted.

One day the girl comes home from college. Unlike initial years, she doesn't look around for her anymore, she doesn't today either. Its 6 in the evening when she realizes that Puchkuru isn't home. All her hideouts are vacant. Panicking, she starts looking around. She calls her friend and they both take several rounds around the neighborhood. She finds out, Puchkuru got out at 9 in the morning. 9 hours ago. Her last seen records are from few hours ago and she's nowhere to be found. Helpless, they go back home. Everyday, the girl prints out new posters and flyers to spread around. She goes knocking on the door of each house within 1 km radius, everyday. Every passing day, the hope gets dimmer. Losing Puchkuru makes her realize how much she really meant to her. The girl was never this sad.

And after 7 days, the girl gets a call. Puchkuru is alive and out there! She was at some guy's house all this time. They had stolen her and kept her hidden even after knowing she was being searched by her owners. She was already ill, sleeping on a cold surface for a week had made her condition even worse. She was attacked by a few street dogs while out. They realized that the dog was not worth the trouble and after 7 long days, they finally decide to call.

Seeing Puchkuru after all hope was lost is the best thing that the girl could wish for. She rushes to hold her. Thin and weak, Puchkuru slightly wags her tail. She's happy too. Since it was late in the evening, the girl and her brother take her to the vet nearby to get her examined. She has deep wounds on her body. She gets preliminary treatment there. The girl promises herself to never take her for granted. She promises to give her the best treatment. She promises to love her more than ever.

Sadly, the girl didn't know it was too late. Puchkuru was severely ill. Beyond treatment. 

That night, Puchkuru behaves odd. She loses her sense of direction. She had no balance over her body movements. She gets up tries to walk but ends up crashing into the wall. She's breathing heavily. She's clearly in pain.

The entire night  Puchkuru lies there, sideways, breathing each breath in pain. Her jaws wide open, tongue hanging. Constantly shedding tear. At 2am she bleeds out of her mouth. All this time, the girl lies beside her. Crying. Begging god to get her out of this pain, out of this misery. To have mercy on her. This is the hardest moment in the girl's life of 20 years. The hurt of seeing Puchkuru in pain is killing her too. 

"baby, its ok. Its ok to say goodbye. I know you don't want to leave me. But, I can't see you in pain anymore. It's ok if you leave me right now. I'll forgive you...."

They both lay in silence, looking into each other's eyes for hours... Until the girl falls asleep. 

Puchkuru says her goodbye. The girl dreams about it...... She leaves the girl forever, her world forever.