TWO FRIENDS

A Short Story by Tadam

“Komu!”

“Komu! Komu! Where are you? Come baby, come!”

Little Yaji called out to her pet—her best friend. She wanted to go for their regular evening walk a little earlier than usual that day.  

“Come soon, baby! We’re going to have lots of fun today!”

Komu heard Yaji and came rushing out of the house. He looked as excited as Yaji was. He ran towards her and began licking her outstretched hands, like a child licks his favorite ice-cream. Yaji patted him on his head and scratched his neck—dogs love that, she knew. Then, the two friends set off down the road into the jungle.

                                                                          *

Yaji was the only daughter of the headman of the village. Tapin—that was the name of the village—was nestled in a narrow valley surrounded by thickly-forested hills. It was a beautiful little village, with lots of greenery around and a river flowing nearby. Big banana trees grew in the fields surrounding the village—that was what Tapin was specially known for.

Yaji thought Tapin was the best place in this world.

                                                                             *

Yaji was as sweet as the bananas of Tapin. Yet—or maybe because of that—she didn’t have many friends. The other village children were just too busy hunting dragonflies and climbing trees, searching for eggs in mynahs’ nests to steal and eat (which she found horribly cruel), to bother about her—and thankfully so. Yaji would spend hours sitting by the river or deep in the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the nature around her. The other kids found that a waste of time, and so left her alone.

                                                                             *

One day, while Yaji was ambling through the forest collecting wild berries, she befriended a dog, which followed her home. Almost at once, she and Komu accepted each other as best friends. From that day on, they did almost everything together. Every evening, they went together into the jungle for a walk, which became the highpoint of their day.

                                                                             *

It had been three months since Komu had arrived in Yaji’s life.

That day, Yaji was very excited. Her father had bought her a new, peacock-blue frock. She wanted to celebrate the occasion with Komu, having fun in the forest.

It was amazing how many fruits grew in the forest! In just a short while, Yaji’s little basket was overflowing with the fat, red-hued berries that she loved. Komu loved them, too.

“Komu, Komu!  Papa’s so kind!” chuckled Yaji as she popped a berry into her mouth. “He bought me this wonderful frock today! I always wanted one like this but never asked him. So kind of him, na? I’m so happy!”

“Here, have another berry,” she chirped as she tossed a berry into Komu’s mouth, which he quickly gobbled up.

As Yaji walked ahead, she flung berries high into the air and Komu leapt up and caught them, without missing a single one!

You should have seen the two friends that day. How very happy they were!

                                                                                                *

“Let’s rest for a while under that cotton tree, Komu,” Yaji said after a while. She was tired. “We better return soon. Papa always tells me that we should not go too far into the jungle.”

The two friends squatted in the generous shade of the giant tree. Komu jumped into Yaji’s lap and curled up into a ball—he loved doing that. Yaji looked on lovingly at this magnificent creature of God, so full of love.

“Thank you Lord for giving me such a loving friend,” she whispered.

                                                                                      *

The early evening sun was slipping down the sky, spreading its magnificent orange rays. A gentle breeze broke the stillness of the forest, patiently caressing the two friends as they lay hugging each other, completely oblivious to the world around them. The soft whistle of the breeze as it made its way through the trees sounded as if it was humming a ballad in celebration of their love.

It didn’t take long for Yaji to fall asleep. She woke up—it was more than an hour later—only when she heard Komu frantically yelping. She couldn’t believe her eyes as she quickly scampered to her feet. In front of her were three burly men who were struggling to tie Komu up with a thick iron chain. Komu was screeching desperately, calling out to Yaji to rescue him.

“Stop that! Stop that at once! Who on earth are you?” Yaji screamed. “Don’t do that to Komu!”

One of the men turned towards Yaji and barked. “Ey girl, watch your words. He isn’t yours. He belongs to us. We’re taking him back with us.”

“But he wants to be with me. Ask him and he’ll tell you that,” Yaji protested innocently as she lunged forward to help her friend. “What proof do you have that you aren’t lying?”

“We don’t need to answer you, girl,” the man snapped back, “but just to satisfy your curiosity, you see that collar around his neck with the number 1003 written on it? ...Well, that’s his ID number that shows he belongs to us. All our dogs have a number. This one escaped three months ago and we’ve been searching for him since then.”

Yaji didn’t doubt what the man said, but, still, she just could not allow Komu to be torn apart from her, especially not by these gruff men. Goodness knows how they would treat him. It must be terrible living with them or else Komu would not have ever fled from them.

Just then, Yaji thought of her father, the village headman. Surely, he wouldn’t allow the men to drag Komu off like that. And so, she suddenly bounced on her little feet and began racing through the forest towards her village. Seeing her, Komu gave one fierce jerk and managed to loosen himself from the grip of the man who was holding him with the iron chain. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him till he caught up with Yaji.

In a short while, they rushed into their home.

                                                                                                *

Taji, Yaji’s father, was sitting on the floor of the verandah, weaving a bamboo basket when the two friends darted inside the compound.

“Ey child, what’s the matter!’ he cried out. “What happened?”

“Papa! Papa! Help! Papa!” Yaji wailed. “Those...men...they are trying to take poor Komu away!”

Yaji managed to regain her breath and explained to her father what had happened.

“Relax, relax my dear,” said Taji as he handed her a glass of water to drink. “We’ll handle the matter when the men come.”

No sooner had Taji said this than the men appeared at the entrance of the compound, looking very angry.

Taji had no idea how he was going to handle the situation. On the one hand, the dog ‘belonged’, as it were, to these men. But he just couldn’t bear to let Komu go with them. He had already grown fond of Komu, but, more than that, he knew Yaji would be devastated if the men made off with him.

The men hollered at Taji. “Give back our dog, if you know what’s good for you.”

Taji thought it best not to antagonize them. He knew what they were capable of doing.

“My dear,” he turned to Yaji and said, “Remember I told you a tale once, that those who come to this world must one day leave it? I know you love Komu, but he isn’t ours to keep. He belongs to those people. And so we must return him to them. He has to spend his rest of his life with them. That’s his fate. You are my sweetest dear, na? You’ll listen to me, na? Return Komu to them, dear, won’t you?”

Hearing her father speak like this, little Yaji burst out crying, burying her head in Komu’s neck, as if trying to take him into her body.

The sight was so pathetic that Taji, who prided himself on being a tough man, was moved to tears.

“Papa,” Yaji managed to say between her sobs after a while, “don’t you keep reminding me that we all are children of the God and that all of God’s creatures have the right to live the life they like? Komu just doesn’t like their company. Why don’t you understand that? That’s why he escaped from them. If he liked being with them, he wouldn’t have come here. Please, I beg you, let him be with us. Tell these men off. Please, please, please!”

“I understand all that my dear,” Taji replied, “but there is little we can do. We must return him to them. And you won’t deny my words, will you, dear? You are such a lovely child.”

Yaji kept silent for a while and then slowly lifted up her tear-soaked head.

“No, father, I won’t deny your words,” she mumbled as she faced the prospect of her best friend being torn apart from her forever. She knew she her father could not dare to antagonize the men.

She turned to Komu and kissed him on the forehead.

“I shall love you till I die,” she whispered.

                                                                                      *

Taji lifted Komu in his arms and walked towards the entrance of the compound, where the men were waiting.

“I am sorry, sirs,” he said as he approached the men. “My daughter loves animals very much and so she kept your dog, unaware that it belongs to you. Please take him. Here....”

Taji passed Komu to one of the men.

The man stretched his hands to take Komu. But then, at that moment, his eyes fell on Yaji, who was sitting a short distance away. And, all at once, his heart melted. It was such a heart-rending sight, that little innocent child with her tear-stained face and disheveled hair.

“No uncle,” the man stuttered. ‘I just can’t! This dog belongs to your daughter now!”  

Then, taking Komu in his arms, he marched towards Yaji and placed him in her lap.

“You both belong to each other,” he said, a generous smile spreading across his face as he patted Komu on her head. “I’ve never seen such love before. A fine lesson you have taught us today!”

                         THE END