2gether. (Sarawatxtine) ( On Hold)

S A R A W A T.

When I was in grade 8, I had thrown a fit at my house to get a dog. My mother was totally against the idea, she had said, "Make friends your age, people who can actually talk." i had called bullshit, I wanted a dog and that was the end of it, if she wanted me to make friends, a dog was the only friend I would make, he won't keep talking and expect me to answer but he would be there when i need him, an ideal solution. It was shallow and selfish, but that is how my fourteen year old brain worked.

My father had instantly agreed thinking his stoic son would at least let out some emotions if he got me a cute fuzzy dog, but my mom, she came up with another argument, " who would take care of it? Will you take the responsibility?" i readily agreed, i told her i am going to take full responsibility since it would be my dog.

My mum was not convinced, this resulted in a week long cold war between the two of us, icy glances were shared, communication fell short, and dinner conversation turned strained.

Come to think of it, I got my stubborn side from her, so she should have expected the fight.

My dad on the other hand was a kind-hearted man, he saw where I came from, he knew making friends for me was a bit troubling,

I wasn't very good at reading people back then and kids would often call me names, the most famous being Mr.-too-cool-for-us. It had hurt but i still couldn't come out of my shell and make conversations, so I thought a dog would be the best replacement.

Phukong was too young to understand the war between his mom and his brother, but at the end of the day, my third consecutive declaration of not eating the dinner had brought my mom to her knees and she had agreed to buy me a dog just so I would eat properly.

I had chortled in victory, the next day we had went on a trip to the kennels, my parents were excited to get a small homey dog, i did not have something specific in mind but was walking through the kennels with wonder, different sizes, different breeds, different barks, but all of them were so joyous to look at. I don't know why it was always sunshine and daisies in the dog's world.

But my eyes caught sight of a beautiful Labrador. It had golden smooth fur, and its muzzle was black. But the dog was whimpering, I stood in front of his gate and pushed my fingers through the wires, it wasn't an overenthusiastic pup, she did not leap at my tried affection, just stared. letting out weak coo.

"She is in pain, young man." the dog house attendant had told me, crouching down like me.

"Why?" i asked, eyes still fixed on the dog.

"Her owner had to leave the country for good and couldn't take him with him, so she sent him to us, but she was missing her owner so much that she tried fleeing, she hurt her leg because she came in front of a car." The Attendant told me.

I was never the type to cry but my eyes watered, and I had made the decision. This was the dog we were going to adopt. I was getting ready for or yet another argument with my mother but when I turned back she had a smile on her face.

"We should get her" she had smiled so genuinely that I was taken aback. I was used to a hard look on her face but this, this was new, she was beaming.

The dog's name was bailey, apparently her previous owner was an american who had gone back to his country for good, but we decided to not change the name and call her Bailey too. In no time Bailey became the center of attention in our house, it took me some time but I coaxed her out and she finally began trusting me.

our roles were set.

I was in charge of her sanitation and morning walks, Mom was In charge of food and dad and phukong took her on evening walks.