Kiba, Thank You

It happened a few years back, when I was still studying in primary school. For me, my happiest moment of my life was back then, when I am still in primary school. When I was twelve, I was trying my best to be obedient and wishing that I’ll grow up quickly.

I was walking under the boiling hot sun and wondering what was the meaning of my life. Back then, I spent the last six years of my life in primary school, doing tons and tons of homework. They’re supposed to improve my knowledge, but till today, I find them useless. We humans work and work and work without knowing why. We just work. We lived and die. Just like that. We come and go, and most of us don’t make a huge impact to the world. We spend much of our lives doing what we detest – either working. After doing much thinking, I found that I could not stand the heat and sought refuge at a nearby void deck. It was, perhaps, the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. Waiting for me at the void deck, was a huge white dog, or maybe it was a wolf, I’m not sure. The dog was not a stray, for it wore a collar, but was really thin and I could see its rib cage. I was told by my mother not to feed dogs, stray or not. But there was this voice in my head that say, “Look at that poor thing. You have a half-eaten sandwich in your pocket. Just feed it. You live only once, if that’s what you want, do it. Rules are made to be broken.” I hesitated, then offered it the sandwich.

The dog was probably starving. After two quick sniffs at the sandwich, it gobbled the sandwich down. I took a close look at the collar. “Kiba” was written on one side and on the other was some kind of address I didn’t bother to read back then. I smiled and patted Kiba on his head and left. He followed me all the way home. I ran, I walked in circles, but he still followed me. Defeated by Kiba’s patience, I turned around and stared into his eyes, saying, “Shoo! Don’t follow me. You’ll only get me into trouble.” He seemed to understand and whined a couple of times, flattened his ears and gave me a sorry look and left. For a moment I regretted. It might be the last time I’m seeing him.

The shocking thing was, when I stepped out of school I found Kiba there, waiting for me. For the next month he appeared there everyday, waiting for me. I would buy a sandwich and offer it to Kiba, who gladly accepted. Then, for the second time in my life, I deliberately broke another rule of my mother. The reason why I did it was simple. We only live once, and I’m going to enjoy mine. I told my mother that I was going to the library, but actually I was at the park playing with Kiba. We continued doing it until the end of my primary school life. That was, perhaps, the happiest moments in my life.

Happy times are bound to end. One day my mother questioned me why I was always sweating and smelled like a dog when I came back from the air conditioned library. I didn’t want her to find out about Kiba, so I made an excuse and escaped as soon as I could. My heart raced. If she did find out about Kiba, I would be in deep trouble. But it would be really suspicious if I just stopped sweating and smelling like a dog. From that day onwards, I spend lesser and lesser time playing with Kiba. Then we stopped going there. I changed school but despite that, he still waited at the school gate and I never fail to offer him his sandwich.

There was this day when Kiba didn’t turn up. I was really worried. I don’t know why but I ran all the way from my new school to the void deck where I first met him. I’m still puzzled why I could do that without stopping to rest. Back then, there was only on thing in my mind. Kiba. As I approached I heard the whimpering of a dog. I knew immediately what had happened. Just like I expected, a few teenagers was crowding around Kiba, kicking him. Powered by rage I threw myself onto them, although one of them was nearly twice my size. They threw me onto the floor and kicked me hard. I curled up like a snail, desperately trying to protect my head. When they finally stopped, I could taste blood in my mouth. I managed to catch a glimpse of Kiba, whose fur was stained with blood and turned red, attacking them before I lost conscious.

After that incident I often wondered why no one came to my aid when I was unconscious, and that mystery remained unsolved till today. It was raining when I woke and it washed away all evidence that the battle every occurred, all except my wounds. Neither Kiba nor the teenagers were around. When I stood up shakily, I found Kiba’s collar in my hands. I staggered home disappointedly, inventing a lie to prevent my parents from learning about the truth. When they demanded for more details, I merely said, “It’s my fault,” and retreated into my room.

One of the many mysteries in my life was why I decided to visit Kiba’s owner after the incident. Maybe I wanted to know more about Kiba’s condition, for he had never visited me since the incident. A small, lean face of an old man appeared after I rang the door bell a few times. “What do you want? I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer. I’m a poor lad myself.” I could not speak and help up the collar. His eyes widened and he invited me in. His apartment was small and neat, with no sign of dog hair anywhere. “Kiba’s at the vet?” I quizzed. “Nah, he’s probably with god. He was a saint when he was alive.” My heart missed a beat. “Kiba’s DEAD!” “Of course he is. In fact, he’s dead for almost twenty years now. Tomorrow’s his twenty fifth birthday. Where did you get that collar? It was burned together with Kiba’s body right before my very eyes!” I stared at the old man, aghast. “But… …” and so I told him about my tale. He laughed. “He has always been a playful dog. Perhaps he’s just stretching his old bones.” I offered to give the old man Kiba’s collar, but he refused. With that, I said goodbye and left, still thinking.

Till this day I haven’t found a convincing reason why Kiba came back, but I’m glad that he did. I don’t believe in supernatural things. You might say that he changed my life, turned me from a angle to a devil, but it was Kiba who taught me how to live, it was him who gave me a personality. If not for him, I’ll still be following the rules. I’ll either become the most boring person on earth, or a robot. Thank you, Kiba.

__________________________SPOILER___________________________________
This didn't happen to me. I'm still twelve for haven's sake

Devoured -- an exam piece

“Are you scared. Jake?” mocked Stefen, my best friend. “Definitely not!” I retorted. But there was this feeling somewhere inside my saying, “Come on! The mere thought of going into the forest can send shivers down your spine, not to say actually going into it.” “Then let’s go, unless you’re… …” I growled and stepped into the forest. Cautiously walking into the forest, I turned around to make sure that Stefen was following me. He was not. “Hey, you should come in too, unless you’re … …” I never got to finish my sentence. As I turned around again, I heard the bush rustle. “Who’s there… …” Wrong move. What ever that thing was, it pounced onto me. I yelled and pushed it off desperately. I felt something warm, and saw something black. Without looking, I pushed it off and headed for the abandon construction site. Yet another wrong move.

With Stefen behind me, we soon reached a dead end. Blocked by a stiff brick wall, we had to think fast. I grabbed a stone nearby and hurled it at the thing that was chasing me, what appeared to be a huge, black dog. The dog evaded it professionally and growled at us. Once or twice we tried to scale the wall, but to no avail. There was nothing that could help us climb. Behind me, I heard the dog growl again, preparing to pounce on its prey. “I have an idea,” whispered Stefen. “What is it! Tell me before that dog gobbles us up or before I die of old age!” “Fine, fine, but you won’t like it.” He told me his idea, and I didn’t like it. It could save at least one of our lives, but I didn’t like it anyway. “It’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard in my life!” I spat. “It’s not. You’re just too cowardly to accept it, or even carry it out. We’ll just sit here and let that stupid old dog devour us.” I inhaled deeply, then said, “Fine, let’s do it.” Stefen smiled. “I’ll be the one to run first, since it was my idea to go into the forest.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he interrupted, “That’s what friends are for.”

He stuck out his fist and raised one finger. The second one went up. Then the third one. Before you could say “STOP!” he was off. The dog pounced onto him just as we expected. I ran pass the dog without it knowing. Before Stefen was out of sight, I turned my head for the third time in the day. There he was, desperately fighting with that dog, defending his neck and here I was, running away. “GO!” he yelled, “AND DON’T TURN BACK!”

I could feel the boiling hot tears welling up me eyes. I ran, stumbling several times. I continued running despite my wounds, they didn’t hurt back then. “It’s over, his dead,” said the voice in my head when I heard Stefen scream. I shoke the thought out of my head and dodged every obstacle I encountered until another brick wall stood before me. Angrily, I howled, “DON’T YOU DARE BLOCK MY PATH AGAIN!” and I scaled it. This time, there were a few boxes beside the wall and I used them. I soon arrived at the busy street. “HELP! HELP! A BLACK DOG IS DEVOURING MY FRIEND.” But everyone just stared at me as if I was mad. I might be, but I’ll never know. Knowing that no one would come to my aid, I ran to the nearest police station and informed the policeman on duty. They rushed to the construction site without delay, but all was too late. They were gone. Stefen and the black dog, both gone. Traces of blood were found, but no body nor bones. I cursed the dog, and joined the policemen in searching for Stefen. His body was not found after hours of searching. “That’s it, it’s over,” said that voice again. I thought for a while, then replied, ”No. That’s what friends are for.”

Mere plate of rice

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, there was a poor town. Somewhere in the town, there was a posh restaurant. Only the rich could afford to go there for meals. Why it was built there, nobody knows. Most of the people there walked along the street, eyes looking for food. They fought for every grain of rice or every bread crust. They would have robbed the restaurant if not for the guards there. They were heavily armed with guns that could kill easily. It was not an offence to kill someone there.

A crash was heard on the street outside the restaurant. It was a plate of rice. The people outside froze and then they crept towards the restaurant. The guards pulled their pistols out of their sheaths and pointed it at one of the men.

“Stop right there!” hollered one of the guards.

Everyone halted. The guard paid full attention and gave them no chance of closing in the restaurant. The chef threw the plate of rice out the window. Again, everyone froze. One more step and they’d get their meal, but would anyone dare? One starving man could not resist the temptation anymore. He dashed towards the rice, hoping that the guards would have mercy and left him alone. It must be his first time here, for everyone else knew that the guards have no mercy for anything.

Bang! Down he went. The rest of the ravenous men dashed towards the food, their only meal for a few days straight. The guards shot the ones who ran first or the ones who left last. They always did, they always will.

As the crowd began to scramble away, leaving the dead behind. There was no one left to grieve for them, for even their loved ones left them behind. One guard whispered to the other, “The war did it. The war changed everyone in town.”

Just to say hi

I'm starting this blog because I'm so bored. I've got nothing to do, as in, nothing i really want to do. I've been playing a lot of computer, but I'm starting to get bored of lagging when I play. I'm always losing anyway. I don't feel like doing homework and things like that such as revision. Right now, my sole past time is reading and writing stories. I still play a bit computer games, but not so much. I'll be publishing my stories and pieces here.