Dead Dog's Tale

I'll be honest with you, I have incredible memory. It's both a blessing and a curse because I can remember the smile of my friends or the breathtaking beauty of the beach but I can also remember moments that I wish I didn't. Moments such as the time my classmates threw a crumpled ball of paper at me while calling me 'Volcano' or when my friend and I had a fight.

This is another moment I wish I didn't remember as clearly because it's also a tiny moment of self-blame. 

Now, I was a kid at that time. I had problems multiplying big numbers and I cried during every sad movie. 

At the time, I was playing in my grandmother's garden. I could go on and on and describe every little detail, from the pink flower petals of the Magnolia tree to the sunflowers that were as tall as I was. The grass was Bermuda grass. It's spiky and a bright, cheerful shade of green. There's a guava tree standing tall and row of ground orchids and pink carnations. The sun was bright and yellow, casting everything in a golden glow. At that time, I was 'fairy hunting' looking for fairies and chasing after the sparrows.

That's when I noticed my dog sniffing a blue plastic bag.

Now, I didn't know any better. All I knew was that cute puppy Sunshine was looking at a plastic bag and that was it. I went back to playing with in the grass and watching butterflies flutter around the bright flowers my grandmother is fond of. 

Sunshine was a curious puppy. She ran and jumped into puddles. She barked after cats. I don't remember her breed or if she even had a breed. All I knew was that she had dark brown eyes like the pine cones and black fur with a light brown underbelly. Her feet were also a light brown. I remember naming her 'Sunshine' because she liked to sleep under the sun a lot. 

She got sick.

Sunshine wasn't being as energetic. She wasn't snapping at butterflies, instead spending her days curled up in a ball. It was like all her energy was drained. I can still vividly remember her laying on her stomach, curled up and whimpering under the light of the sunset. My mother had given her medicine in the hopes that it would help. It didn't but it helped ease the pain somewhat.

A few days later Sunshine passed away and we buried her at the bottom of a tree.

My mother had told me the reason Sunshine had passed away and after that I began to be on the look out for trash. I became stricter with throwing my trash and plastic bags that I could see. I blamed myself, if I had known, then I wouldn't have ignored her. 

You can't change the past but you can change the future. It's all we can do so that others don't have to suffer like Sunshine did.