The Final Goodbye

Written By: Sandeep Bisht

Long time back when civilization didn’t stepped on the immaculate beauty of planet earth, it was tough to survive and life was worth living. In the wilderness of forested mountains during that era, lived a Master with his Dog. It was the era when humans realized that animals are not for merely hunting but they can be great companions as well. Human mind evolved during this phase and they shifted from caves to houses made of stones and wood. Animals and humans lived together in harmony and their only aim in life was to survive. 

The harsh winters were knocking the door of the mountains and both Master and his Dog preferred to stay inside their house for most of the time. They would sit near fire for hours and the dog fetched wooden logs right before the fire extinguished. 

 The master was working on a piece of deer’s skin to make a collar for his dog and as soon as he was finished with it, he tied it over his dog’s neck. For two days the dog made every possible effort to grab his collar and tear it with his sharpened teeth but he failed and finally adapted it. 

The master would spend hours sharpening his arrows for hunting and his dog would simply sit there in front of him. They shared a great bond, they ran together, hunt together, ate together and played together. It was a small family, very small indeed. 

As years passed by the master grew strong and his dog started aging. Dogs generally live for around 14years and this one already turned 9years old. The dog’s physical strength was decreasing but he gave his best and the master was never disappointed in him. One day while hunting a wild goat the master accidentally fell into a bush from height and got hurt. The dog dragged him out by pulling his self made woolen jacket with all his strength. The master’s leg was bleeding and they went back to their home. 

That night when master was sleeping, the dog was awake to guard their place and also because he was worried. All of a sudden the dog sensed someone’s presence, someone unwanted. He walked up to the gate and barked out loud to show that he is not afraid and has strength to tear apart the unwanted.

He looked back and saw that his master was still sleeping, so he walked three steps more and barked again. He saw shining eyes behind a tree and kept gazing there for a while. He walked towards it slowly with curiosity. When the dog reached near that tree a leopard jumped towards him to grab his throat with all her strength but the dog managed to escape and started running in opposite direction.

The chase didn’t end here and the dog made leopard run after him in circles. The leopard took another leap towards the dog and managed to thrash his back with his heavy claw. The dog cried in pain but he stood up in front of leopard to fight.

The master woke up and saw that his dog isn’t there, he focused on the sound and came out to see his dog fighting bravely with wild leopard. The master went back inside for his bow and arrow, but he failed to do it quickly because of his injured leg.

The moment he came outside and aimed towards the leopard, the dog jumped down the terrace field to escape and leopard also jumped following the dog. The master missed the target. He went back inside and came out with a fire torch. He tried to run as fast as he could to reach the place where dog and leopard jumped and saw no one there.

He kept searching for traces all night but failed to spot his dog or leopard. The master kept searching for his dog in the forest for three days and three nights, and often cried and shouted madly in despair. Every single day of his last nine years were spent with this dog and he didn’t even get a chance to wave him final goodbye.

Deeply depressed, he kept on trudging the forest and finally found his dog’s collar with some blood spots on it. While holding the collar tear shed from his eyes. Filled with rage and anger, he decided to find the leopard and kill her. The master wanted to avenge leopard for killing his dog.

He started searching for the leopard and found her lying on the ground. He observed her from a safe distance. He took out his bow and arrow to pierce the heart of the leopard to retaliate. As he aimed at the heart of the leopard a cub came above the leopard and started chewing her ear. He realized that she is a leopardess. Two more cubs came jumping and started drinking the milk from leopardess’s breasts. The arrow was about to slip from the hands of the master but he held it there for a while.

He realized that if he kills the leopardess then somehow he will also be responsible for the death of three cubs. Those three cubs made him doubt over his decision of killing the leopardess. But he badly wanted to release all his anger through his finger tips, so he released the arrow towards the sky. He decided not to kill the leopardess for the sake of survival of her cubs. The master and his dog survived for years by hunting animals and this was for the first time when they were attacked. It was a nature cycle that goes circular and the circle ended with this incident. He gasped and started walking back towards his home with lowered head and collar in his hand.

The clouds started gathering and in the evening he reached back home. He saw his dog lying in front of his house, when he moved closer he saw him badly wounded and panting for breath. The master couldn’t believe that he is alive, he took his head in his arms and started crying.

A loud thunder strike made the master look towards sky and it started raining. The moment he looked back towards his dog, he wasn’t there. He was gone. He still felt that his hands are holding something but nothing was visible, his hands felt the heaviness. The master then realized that his dog was already dead but maybe his soul came to see him for one last time, to wave him the final goodbye. That night the master realized one truth about life, “sometimes you got to believe in things that don’t exist”.