Shortstory : My Daughter & Her Love For Our Neighbor's Dog
06.57
“Welcome to my dream house!” I smiled from ear to ear as I lead my best friend, Eri entered the unfinished gate of my new house on that bright Sunday morning. A dream house for my small family. Me, my husband, and my two kids. A house of our own, stepping out from our parents’ den.
“Your dream has come true!” she said.
Yes, my best friend know that I’ve always dreamt of having a house of my own which is only some small steps away from a mosque; with a wide yard and garden full with green shades of flowers or trees. Oh, what a dream!
Eri walked eagerly into the front yard, “Look at this shady mango tree! It’s so refreshing here. Let’s pick up some mangoes and ... “
“Arrhhh..arff..arfff..arff!” my neighbor’s dog started barking wildly. Eri was certainly a strange smell for him. “Aarff..arfff!” he was barking even louder and louder from my neighbor’s house as we were standing under the mango tree at my front yard.
Eri’s enthusiastic look then changed into a pity look in an instant. That look on her eyes told me how she definitely knew that a loud barking dog could not be part of the ideal picture of my dream house.
“I’ve picked some mangoes for you yesterday. Let’s come in and enjoy your favorite rujak!” I grabbed Eri hands when she showed a glimpse of worried look to the dog at my next door house.
“Don’t worry! Chiko is in a solid cage. He will not run here!” I assured her.
“Chiko?” Eri asked me. I had never told her about this dog before.
“That dog. The dog’s name is Chiko, “ I explained briefly, with a hope no more curious discussion about this dog.
But I knew I’ve learned that most of my guests did not really enjoy the sound of barking dog when they were stepping into my house. Their looks sometimes were so clear to show that a dog near my new dream house was ruining the perfect image I’ve built.
Well, I understand that for most moslems, the word ‘dog’ is referring something called ‘haram’ or forbidden. It’s stated in our holy Qur’an that moslems are forbidden to eat dog’s meat. It’s not about HATING dogs, actually. But the reality is some moslems around my small town have a kind of bad stigma toward dogs and their owners. The non-moslem persons who have dogs will look so different in our neighborhood where most of them are moslems who think that dogs are ‘haram’ things to be avoided.
I don’t hate dogs but the pity look from most of my guests made me even harder to accept warmly to Chiko’s presence as part of my dream neighborhood.
My daughter had a different view about this. She accepted the presence of our neighbor’s dog with all of her heart.
“Chiko..Chiko,” she cheerfully called that dog from our terrace whenever she came home from school. And then that cunning white furry Kintamani dog would run here and there , wagging his tail happily, also barking, but in the different tone. It was heard softer and not wild. It’s not the loud noisy sounds as usually addressed to strangers.
“Don’t let your kids play around near that house with the dog,” the other neighbor living behind our home advised. And then she passed another story as we started a warm chit chat as new neighbors, “That family had moved here with their dog many years ago from Bali . I heard the husband’s parents were not Indonesians. Their ancestors were from Philipphines, I heard.”
“Oh, I see. That’s why they cannot speak Javanese well,” I said.
Since then, I had tried to limit my kids’ interaction to that house with the dog. But, my daughter objected with it, “ But Mum, Budhe and Pakdhe Agus are very kind. Moreover Chiko is not a wild cruel dog.”
She never called ‘that dog’ or ‘the dog’. For my daughter, the dog was deserved to be called with a name like a human being. And Chiko was his name.
Well, she’s actually right to the fact that the dog owners are really good neighbors to us. My daughter calls them Pakdhe and Budhe Agus, the short form of the husband’s name Mr. Agustinus. Pakdhe and Budhe are the polite remarks for calling respected older persons in Javanese. It sounds like Aunty and Uncle.
Pakdhe and Budhe Agus often give some snacks or sweet treats to my kids whenever they come home from some activities at their church or going out somewhere. They also kindly share their kelengkeng whenever it bears fruits. They are one of the most helpful neighbors we have.
Our house and Budhe Agus’s house is only separated by a wrought iron fence, as tall as an adult’s shoulder. We often have a chit chat without even opening our gates. Chiko always joined our conversations while walking around on their terrace and front yard. Maybe it’s just a kind of paranoid, but I had a kind of worried that the dog would eventually jump up high into our house and bite one of my kids. Phew! Thank’s God, it’s only part of the imagination hanging inside my head. Chiko never jumped into my house through the fence.
My daughter laughed at my ‘unreasonable worries’ about Chiko jumping high chasing and biting us. “Mom, Chiko is a kind of loyal guardian dogs. He would never attack people who is kind and familiar to him,” she explained like a dog expert.
“Moreover, we have to be proud with Chiko. He is Kintamani dog. And Kintamani dog is the first Indonesian dog breed to be recognized internationally,” my daughter eagerly showed me an article at the internet about it.
Hmm, all of her ‘dog expert style’ is because she loves reading Trubus magazines that I often bought. Trubus is a famous Indonesian magazine about plants and animals. She also keens on watching grooming dogs and cats as pets at Animal Planet.
Moreover, she also loved to have a chat with Joshua, the only son of that Agus’s family. They sometimes had interesting chats about dogs. He studied in a university at the different town. He usually went home once in a month or during his school holiday. He played with his dog a lot whenever he stayed at home.
But that evening was a kind of horror. My little son was screaming out loud, running frantically from our garage. He was trembled, “Chiko .. The dog.. Chiko.. is in our garage!”
I grabbed a broom nearby tried to shoo away that creature.
“Aaarf .. aarrrff!” Chiko was barking closer and closer.
I slammed the garage door just before he stepped into our living room. I was occupied with fright and rage. How could this dog ran away from that house! They said they would always lock their gate, never let Chiko out. “But, see! The dog is stepping into my house!”
My daughter, however, reacted calmly. I saw her hugged her little brother, tried to calm him down.
“Hey, don’t be afraid. Chiko just wanted to get to know you more. Next time, don’t run. And Chiko will not run chasing you, okay?”
Her little brother smiled, feeling silly to his overreacting toward the presence of Chiko that evening. My daughter then opened her room window and shouted cheerly, “Budheeee...Chiko is running away to my house!”
Budhe hurriedly came out and tried to put Chiko back to her house. She apologized many times, assuring that it was an accident when Pakdhe forgot to lock the gate before driving out. She assured me that it wouldn’t happen again. And as I could remember, maybe a kind of that incident only happened just once or twice after that.
We got used to Chiko, but still I couldn’t accept him warmly in my heart. I was in quick alarm when at a time I saw my daughter petting his head from the fence, trying to pass a bone from our kitchen.
“I’ve warned you many times not touching that animal. Don’t you understand! It’s najis when your body or your clothes get its saliva. Najis!,” I gave a stern look to her innocent eyes. Najis means ritually unclean in our religion.
“I know, Mom. I have learned it. I don’t have physical contact with Chiko often. I also don’t ask a dog for a pet. But, I just can’t hate him for being ‘najis’. I just want to give him the bones that he really likes, “ she tried to explain, ” Moreover, we can clean it. In our religion, we are taught how to clean that kind of dog’s saliva najis. I have washed my hands seven times, with soil at the first.”
I was startled by her remark. I always thought that my daughter will lose her deep faith in our religion if she has a slight love for a dog in her heart. I often think that it’s a kind of bad luck to have a non-moslem neighbor with a dog in their house. But, the reality shows it’s okay to have them as neighbor. It is not threatening our faith. Moreover, I believe that God let us to live in this kind of neighborhood as part of our fate. Understanding and respecting our different neighbor is the best choice that my daughter tried to show. Including the fact that they had a dog; Chiko.
Chiko was getting old. “He had not eaten well for many days and didn’t move too much,” I heard Budhe explained to my daughter when she wanted to give a bone for Chiko.
“Maybe he missed Joshua, he had not go home for three months,” she said. She believed Chiko was severely ill but he tried to survive to be able to meet his master, Joshua. She could see it from Chiko’s eyes. She kept explaining as if she really understands that dog. I hid my laugh to the assumption that she shared.
Then, one night Joshua went home. My daughter and I were having chit chat with Budhe by the fence at that time. He rushed to meet Chiko which barked weak. When he got Chiko in his arms, Chiko’s breathing was labored. Jo moved Chiko’s head a little closer to his chest and Chiko’s breathing was even weaker. That night Chiko was died peacefully in his master’s arms.
I saw teardrops hanging in my daughter’s eyes. Strange. I couldn’t help these teardrops dropping from my eyes either. I learned, maybe too late, that my daughter showed how she could accept and loved the dog, respecting her different neighbor, without even loosing or decreasing her faith.
6 comments
Saya kebanyakan baca novel hasil terjemahan dan MTL. Jadi pas baca cerita yang memang ditulis dengan bahasa Inggris dari awal, berasa banget pilihan kata dan susunan kalimatnya yang bagus.
BalasHapusSebagai muslim, saya pun kadang punya pikiran prejudice terhadap anjing. Padahal memang dalam Islam diajarkan cara untuk membersihkan najis liur anjing. Jadi teringan dengan Seorang dokter hewan muslim yang pasti sering mengobati anjing. Tak ada yang salah. Toh tinggal disucikan setelah selesai memegangnya. Tapi membersihkan pikiran kita terhadap prasangka yang lebih sulit.
Nice story 👍
Thank youu mbak :)
HapusTerimakasih sudah berkunjung membaca cerita kami
Skrol skrol kebawah terus, kirain nemu bahasa Indonesia seperti biasanya, eh ternyata semuanya bahasa Inggris. Harus translate dulu ini mah.😂
BalasHapusHaha..jadi kayak nyari minyak goreng ke toko indo yaa mas.. nyari nyari sanpai rak belakang..ternyataaa zonk
HapusAyo mas agus terjemahkan dulu,nanti dikirim ke buguru yaa :)
Ada kok mbak, minyak goreng sekarang sudah normal lagi sudah banyak.
HapusTapi harganya juga naik banyak, jadi 25 ribu per liter.😂
ya Alloh....endingnya kok sedih...chiko meninggal saat Joshua anak pakdhe agustinus (agus) dan budhe agus pulang hiks...padahal sebelumnya ia rindu Jo makanya lepas dari garasi dan main ke rumah Eri walau adik laki laki eri sempat panik.
BalasHapusAwalnya cute mba wi...Chiko think Ery is a nice kids, so Chiko tidak berpikir bahwa Eri stranger. Justru ia malah klulut dan jadi cuddly's Kintamani dog.
Btw...ntah kenapa tetiba mbul malah pingin rujak, mangga dan lengkeng xixixi