Chigaru the Devoted Dog

It was a sweltering day despite the overcast sky, the blanket of grey cloud smothered the heat like a wet blanket. The village was like many near the border, lined with simple clay houses with dried grass roofs, and a few cattle, and chickens scattered here and there. The day was buzzing with life at this time of day, insects chattering and people in the streets buying or selling goods. Many farmers out in the dried paddocks, salvaging what they could and the women tending to newborns or preparing a fire to cook the daily meal of maize or rice. Some families had more than others but none ever had ‘enough’.

A young boy no older than twelve sat in the dirt surrounding his family’s little hut. He had not gone to work today because his father had kept the family home apparently to give them a break, but the boy knew better. But regardless he was making the most of the spare time. He wore simple clothes that were ripped in places and covered in dirt and had bare feet that were hardy from walking on the harsh, hot terrain. He was terribly thin, and his dark skin disguised the bags under his eyes. He was holding something in his hand staring at it intently and with a closer observation it could be seen that he was speaking to the object.

It was an ornament of sorts, a porcelain little statuette of a dog. The dog was a mottled grey colour and sat on all fours with its head pointed upward, as if to look into the holders eyes, it seemed as if it might be some breed of proud hunting dog at first glance but once looked at with a bit more thought, it could be concluded it really was just a mutt. The tongue hung out to support the theory, making the dog look somewhat goofy; its mouth tilted upwards giving the dog a hint of its mischievous nature. But it was those glazed black eyes that the boy really loved, they gazed up, with a sense of real honesty, and one might even say, loyalty, it was like the dog was listening to him.
The boy had found the dog when he was only seven; he was delivering a message from his employer a local farmer. It was a fifteen mile walk there and back. He was plodding along on the dirt path feeling sorry for himself. All the other kids his age were attending the local school now, his parents however, had not even contemplated letting him go to school, especially since he had gained employment, the money was more important, they needed it to feed him and his brothers and sisters. He knew this was important and felt a sense of pride even, being able to support his family. But even that had not saved him from the feelings of loneliness, isolation and sometimes even humiliation from not being like other kids his age.

He longed for company, just someone he could talk to openly and freely about his hopes and dreams, his parents had no time for such luxuries, he was lucky if they said a word to him each day, his father was always working and his mother caring for his siblings and cooking. He’s once tried to talk his parents into getting him a donkey from the market so he could ride to work and on his errands, and also so he could have someone to talk to, he didn’t mention that though. They weren’t very supportive and remained tight lipped and simply shook their heads. He sighed at the thought, he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings when he felt something sharp on his foot, he yelped in pain, and jumped away from the spot, there he saw the figurine, the dog. He picked it up; it was warm at the touch. The dog stared up at him with those eyes and he spoke to it “I just want someone to talk to..” The sunlight made the shiny covering glisten and the dog appeared to wink.

From that point on, dog was his best friend, he named him Chigaru, but took to calling him dog most of the time. He took dog everywhere he went and spoke to it often, and it would stare at him intently like it understood what he meant. He found the dog great because since he’d never been allowed to socialise with people his own age he wasn’t much good at conversation with people and with dog it was different. Today was no exception, the boy sat talking to the dog about how his father had mentioned something to his mother last night, about a few women who came to him asking if he had seen their children, they were very upset apparently, and father was worried and kept them home today.
The Dogs ears seemed to prick up at hearing this as the sunlight danced on the shiny surface. Suddenly a shadow overcame dog, the boy looked up it was Abrafo, the one whom loved to bully the boy. “You still talking to that little toy of yours Amadi?” the boy stayed silent. Abrafo leaned down and snatched the dog out of the boy’s hands. “No! Give him back Chigaru, is my dog!”Abrafo just laughed. “You really treat it like it is a real dog, oh that is sad, like you because you have no friends!” The altercation went on for a while with Abrafo teasing the boy with the dog, eventually he got tired of it and simply threw dog, and it landed in the hot dirt and skidded under the door of one of the neighbours sheds. Abrafo laughed and walked off, and the boy bolted towards the shed with hot tears pricking his eyes, fearing dog would be in many pieces.

He opened the door of the shed, the hinges groaned as if in pain and the door shut behind him. He searched the floor, and his fears were confirmed. The body of the dog lay to one side and one of the ears was missing. He searched the floor for what seemed like hours and could not find it. Tears streamed down his cheeks. His only friend and only thing of value was broken. He looked down at the dog, a white chip remained where the ear had once been, but those black eyes still gazed up at him through tear rimmed eyes he could still see it, and the dog’s lopsided mischievous grin was still present as well, he pondered for a moment, the dog looked pleased with itself, even after losing an ear, he brushed the tears off his cheeks and decided that if dog was okay with it, so was he.

He was about to push open the door with dog in hand, when the dog suddenly slipped out of his grip again and bounced under a table, a pang of fear rose in his chest, what if he’d broken dog further? He threw himself on all fours and searched under the table. As he did a large banging noise occurred outside, his mind raced as he recognised the sound from times before. Gunfire. He spotted dog covered in dust at the far side of the table and clambered under to hide and grasp dog his hands again. He clasped dog in both hands and curled into a ball, something was going on outside. He heard yelling and screams combined with gunfire. His heart was pounding; he gripped dog tighter as the chaos of noise outside continued.

Hours later or days, the boy wasn’t sure. He clambered out from under the dust covered table and stared out the window, the noise was gone, and had been for a while. The village was ghostly. He opened the door; the hinges creaked making him cringe with fear of being heard. Then he saw it, the blood, and the bodies. The children were gone, his parents too. Silent tears slipped down his cheeks, it was then he realised dog had saved him, his only real loyal friend. It was now boy and dog against the world.