There was once a cute girl. She was just like any other cute girl you see in the town; cute, attractive, lively and fun. She had a dirty puppy. It was like most other dirty puppies too; dirty, ugly, with quite a few infections and quite a few queer traits.
But both of them had a strong bond. The puppy loved the fact that the cute girl would take such good care of it, even though it was so ugly and smelly. She was giving it attention, even though there were quite a few dirty puppies in the town to take care of. The girl loved the fact that the puppy was so pathetic and hopeless. It had nowhere else to go, and was latched on to her, and she loved this sense of hopeless attachment.
The girl liked to take the puppy out on walks every now and then. She loved the way the puppy used to follow her every step, and go everywhere she wanted without a question. She loved the way it used to bark and get all worked up when any other dirty puppy on the road got too near her. She loved the silly manner in which the puppy would run ahead of her sometimes, and then look back, thinking that she is actually following it. She laughed to herself during these moments, because the puppy kept forgetting that the leash was actually with her. This convenient forgetfulness made the puppy feel happier and more independent than it actually was. Very rarely, the puppy used to discover some interesting scent on the road, and used to run behind it, forgetting that the girl was with it. During these times, she just had to tug on the leash once, and the puppy got back on line. As much as she loved pampering the puppy, she also secretly loved the sense of control that such tugs on the leash made her feel.
The puppy also loved such walks. It felt a sense of pride on the kind of companion it had. It loved the look of desperation, and envy on the faces of the other dirty dogs on the road. Seeing this, it felt a new surge of liveliness and got a spring in its step. It would bark aloud at any other dirty dog on the road that dared get nearby. But then the cute girl had too big a heart. She often used to stop by when she saw a dirtier, more pathetic puppy, and play with it for some time. She used to tend to its wounds, while also laugh freely at the kind of antics the other puppies used to do. The dirty puppy used to hate such times. It used to try barking at first, to show its displeasure, then tried whining to show that it was hurt, but no use. The puppy had no hold on the girl. It even tried getting into a fight with the other puppies, but then it just made the girl notice them more. She would even shout at it for being so dumb and inconsiderate.
When they got back home, the girl loved feeding the puppy. It gave her immense satisfaction to be the one who fulfilled such an essential need. She used to get whatever food she thought was best for her puppy. She would place it in the bowl and wait for it to eat. The puppy sometimes didn’t eat immediately, which would make her sad. She would almost get tears in her eyes thinking that she had taken so much effort for it, and it is not even honouring that. Finally, miraculously, the puppy used to get around to eating the food, and then stand looking at her wagging its tail. That's when she would give it the nice cuddle, and pat in the head that she knew it was waiting for. Sometimes when she called the puppy for food, it would bring with it some bone, or some piece of chicken from the trash, place it on her feet and wag its tail. She never used to understand what it meant, but would simply throw it out, and drag it inside.
The puppy never used to enjoy the meal times much. The cute girl, out of all the care for it, used to get it all sorts of things to eat every day. But it was never something which it wanted to eat. It used to try and bark and let her know, but she never understood. It even tried to make her understand by not eating what was placed in front of it, but then that just made the girl sad. This was one thing the puppy couldn’t take, and would eat whatever the hell was kept in front of it, and then wag its tail as if it liked it. This did make the girl happy, and she used to give it a nice pat and a hug. The puppy did enjoy this part, and was willing to do whatever it takes so that such hugs keep coming. Sometimes the puppy felt that it wasn’t doing much in return for the girl. Just like she was getting it food every day, maybe it should also get her something in return. Maybe she would like it, and they both could have it together. In this expectation it fetched her the best of the bones it could find, and fight with the other dogs in the trash spot to wrestle away the best chicken piece there. But she never seemed to like what she saw, and always threw it away, without even a glance at the puppy. This did make the puppy pretty sad, but it never knew how to express it, and even if it did, the cute girl never seemed to notice. The puppy thought maybe it hadn’t done a good enough job, and used to try that much harder the next time.
The cute girl had a beautiful little family. She had a loving mom, a caring dad, adoring brothers and sisters, and lots of friends and relatives. The girl loved spending time with all of them. She loved talking about all of them to the puppy. She loved taking the puppy along when she was meeting them. It just made her feel happier. She felt like she had all the various parts of life pretty close together and in place.
The puppy too had a father and mother, but it never cared about them. Which puppy ever did? Sometimes they used to howl away in the distance, and the puppy too would reply back with a howl, but then it never spent much time thinking of them. The puppy also had a few friends. This was before the girl had picked it up from the road and brought it home. Now it hardly had any idea what was up with them. Sometimes they would come to the gate and bark at it. The puppy could never understand what that meant. Were they angry at it, or laughing at it or just plain envious? It assumed the latter and just continued on. Bloody jealous hounds, can’t even tolerate someone being happy. Anyway the puppy was way too obsessed with the cute girl to take notice. It didn’t like being taken along to her parents’ place though. It seemed they never liked it. They were always having a disgusted look on their face. They would even tell the girl to stop playing with such dirty dogs, and that they would get her one belonging to a good breed. The girl just smiled at them, and continued on.
Every night, after having played with the puppy for some time, she tied it outside and went in to sleep. Not that the puppy would have escaped if she hadn’t tied it; it was way too attached to her for that. But then she just loved to know that she indeed had complete control. She never felt bad that she was having a comfortable sound sleep here while the puppy was outside. It never occurred to her that the puppy needed anything more. Wasn’t she being generous enough already, sparing all the time she did.
The puppy just dreaded the nights. That's when she used to leave it outside and go in to sleep. Just before she did that, she used to play around with it. She used to give it a nice warm hug, talk all sorts of sweet little things which the puppy never understood but always loved hearing, and show that she really cared. The puppy loved these moments, but just when it was craving for more, it would find itself locked out. It never understood this part. Not that it was so enthusiastic to get into her bed, but just that if she really liked it then why this forced distance. Was it supposed to mean something? It quietly waited out in the dark. Sometimes thoughts of running away did occur to it, but then it quickly dismissed them as signs of weakness and stayed on. After all, didn’t they say, every dog has its day.
Now for those who understood what the story actually meant; bravo. You atleast realise the soup you are in. For those who think this is a sweet bedtime tale from Aesop’s fables, well I hope you guys have gone to sleep already.
There is no moral to this story. Draw your own conclusions. I just wanted you to realise that life is a bitch and men always remain the underdogs!!
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