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I SHALL EULOGIZE MY DOG
He walked on the hot and bare sands with me every day of his life, with or without my consent. He followed me to the beach and followed me to the hills. He trailed me to the forest and made me chase him in the meadows. He was not just ‘a common dog’, he was my dog, my shadow. I prayed for him, to live forever and always stay around but then, we don’t always get what we wish for, do we? He was a good and loyal partner, more loyal than most men I knew. He never held anything against me even when I whooped him for chasing after the hens, or struck him for licking the cooking pots. He was not a pedigree dog but to me, he was all I ever needed. His grace, his wit and playfulness...I shall eulogize my dog. I shall eulogize that animal that peed on all corners of the compound and upset the cooking pans late in the night, that animal that chased the weaver birds out of the wheat plantations, that nipped at the little children’s heels when he found them fighting on the dusty paths. I see him every night as he trots over the hills and into a cloud of dust and then I can’t see him again. I see him jumping into the pool and sinking into the dark, yawning world of stone and mould. He visits my dreams and nightmares, can hear him bark me awake but then I wake to find everything silent as death. I shall eulogize that animal, for I never really lost a dog, I lost a partner, I lost family.

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