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| Sunday, 16 January 2005 |
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Features |  |
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Life with William In mourning by Carol Aloysius Pure white, black and grey are William's favourite colours these days.
Not only has he been shaken by the tsunami, which fortunately left For the past weeks she had been losing hair from her once furry body and gradually became slower in her movements. In spite of her diminishing appetite, we kept trying to feed her with her favourite food; chicken liver and milk, but to no avail. William even took to singing her lullabies and narrating to her his favourite bedtime stories. I would catch him waking up at night to check on her and surreptitiously wiping his eyes when he saw her trying to wag her tail and totter to the garden since she absolutely refused to defecate or pass urine inside the house. Sweet natured and gentle (albeit a fierce watch dog despite her tiny frame) and utterly loyal to those who were affectionate to her. Socks finally took her last breath in her sleep. It is difficult to imagine life without our faithful and lovable dog who had been part of our family for over thirteen years, since she first entered our lives as a three-month-old pup. William was inconsolable. He insisted that we give her a grand funeral. A large gathering of Man Friday's friends and us, her closest family William led the funeral service with a heart rending farewell speech that moved us all to tears. It was soon after Sock's funeral that Man Friday took to wearing `mourning' clothes. "Mama mage balu patiyata shoka novunoth, vena kavuda meyata shoka venne?" (If I don't grieve for my beloved dog who else will?), he would tell me. Naturally my Man Friday's household chores suffered a setback during this time of mourning as he would constantly disappear to his room to compose songs and poems to his beloved pet, refusing to cook for a week, thus forcing me to take over the cooking chores. The heavy pall of gloom that hung thickly over our house after Sock's death was somewhat lifted when Hen, who sensed that William was grieving, began making more frequent visits to the kitchen, cuddling up to William and pecking his hand affectionately as if to show her sympathy. The two of them would sit outside on the porch for hours whispering sweet nothings and the bond between them was stronger than ever. Then tragedy struck for the second time in William's life. A few days before Christmas, we heard Hen squawking loudly shortly after midnight. We ran outside to see what the commotion was all about, led by William who was brandishing a large pole and shouting "Mugatiya mage kikili patiya maranawa" (A polecat is murdering my beloved hen). Sure enough Hen was fighting for her life as a fierce looking mongoose attacked her. She had been caught unawares as she slept on the low branches of the tall tree which served as her 'home' after our neighbours had cut down the uppermost branches of the tall kohomba tree which had been her roosting place ever since she flew into our lives and William's. By the time we reached her it was too late to save her life. Her feathers scattered all around the tree. Hen just managed to open her eyes as if in farewell to her beloved friend William before closing them for ever, while her attacker disappeared after having been given a fierce blow by William. William was inconsolable. After the death of his two beloved pets he has been constantly telling me that life was not worth living any more. I hasten to comfort him with some hackneyed words of condolence such as, "They lived a good life and we are sure they must now be in a happier place than this", only to get a withering reply from Man Friday "Mage patiyan dennata meeta vada sathutu thanak hamba wenne koheda? (Where will my two pets find a better place than this?) It is over a month since William went into deep mourning. He now spends his time sighing and visiting the two graves of his beloved pets. He is also writing a book about 'Life with my loving pets'. As for me, I am now a full-time, albeit reluctant cook, gardener and housewife. I guess I shall be forced to continue doing these chores for sometime, much to the annoyance of my family who don't hesitate to tell me every painful day that they prefer William's cooking to mine. It won't be long before William emerges from his long period of mourning, I tell myself optimistically. |
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his
home intact and did not affect his close relatives, he has lost two of his
dearest friends; Socks our pet dog and Hen. Socks died of old age but her
slow passing away was agonising for all of us including William.
