Simple Pleasures

Leaves rustled in the front yard on a hot Friday afternoon when Bentong realized he will no longer last till tomorrow. He breathed hard and try to consume gallops of air as he strived to see his beloved masters one more time in the evening. They might come in early evening if he is lucky. His masters are rarely home early. But despite all that, he never fails to get up and greet them. He never minded the fact that he will be ignored by his tired masters and sometimes manages a rough pat on the back if they still have the energy to do so.

But that afternoon as he lay on the cold concrete ground, how he wish he could say goodbye to everybody for the last time. How would they react when they find out nobody will wag their tail at them except that over-reacting mongrel Tisay, whom the masters stay away from because of her "playful" bites. Then he thought again, she may not be that bad. If they could tame her more and realized that her bites are her way of showing her affection to them.

Nobody else will be leashed on the front door and be the official dog greeter every morning. Nobody will be able to leap as high as he does and frisk their master's thigh. He was known that his attempts with Tisay is futile due to height difference and sometimes blamed for using their master's leg as the substitute for such a frustrated act. For the past 1 1/2 dog years, he never knew how to relieve his carnal animal hunger.

Nobody else will play Bruno and Budhaw when his gone, he thought. He never hated cats when he was still a pup when he spent his pup days with a cat named Snow. Unfortunately, his former master was given away to the master he's with to this date because he marked every corner of the house his bathroom.

As he thought about all of these, his will grew weak. Suddenly a bright light appeared out of nowhere and a mirage of a beautiful lady emerged. Her smile is soft. Her face is radiant and soothing. The presence of her seems to soothe his pain that was wallowing inside him for days.

“It’s time to go now, Bentong.” she said.

“I can’t leave yet. I haven’t said goodbye to everybody.”

“You don’t have enough time left. You new family is waiting.”

“But…..”

“You will see them again someday I promise. You won’t have to look like what you are anymore and they will love you more than they ever did.”

“But how?”

“You will find out my dear. Just come with me and all this pain will go away.”

Bentong thought to himself, it is time. So on a hot Friday afternoon as the leaved rustled crisply in the front yard, he closed his eyes and breathed his last.

That Friday night, a pup’s cry bellowed in the laundry room. Out of eight pups being born this one has shown signs of being a fighter. Former master thought it would be nice to give this to the new master. New master cried and told him that the dog he gave has died that afternoon. He assured her there’s another one coming soon but she sobbed "Nobody else can replace my Bentong."

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My Bentong, who is in dog heaven now, will surely be missed.

As we grow old, one has to start to for the things that lasts a long time. The process, however, is very tedious.

When we are young, most of us would act on impulse and spend more time on things that our senses enjoys. Perhaps its because we try to find those momentary happiness that makes our adrenaline rush and we never get enough of them. Even those who have the privilege and the luxury of money and time has started to make it their lifestyle. We never care about other things except ourselves and it didn't matter if we step on people's toes, abusing the resources around us and even capitalizing on situations for our own benefit.

But these things, if you weren't lucky, may break us. Let me give you some examples.

On health. Have you been exploiting your bodies to the extremes to do the things we enjoy: smoking, drinking with friends, staying late hours, gorging on junk and processed stuff. In the long run, it will take its toll and pay our dues when we get old.

On love. Can you look into your boyfriend's eyes and see forever? Do you see a clear picture on seeing yourself growing old with that person? If the answer is no, don't you see it is a waste of time spending somebody whom you don't think you have any future with when you could have been with somebody whom you could have spent you forever.

On work. Do you find any challenges that may grow you in the corporate ladder or in your personal life? Do you love what you're doing? As you grow old, you will start to question your significance in life and if there are any achievements that you have done when you still have the capacity to do so.

On people. Have I given enough love? Have I spent quality time with people I love? Have I done enough support when their are going through rough times? When you grow old, friends and family counts. Being aloof when them is not the answer because you'll never know when you will need their help, love and support.

Funny how someone like me are asking these questions. Personally, I've been asking myself the same questions and sad to say, I can't even find the answers. Getting old is indeed a process the each one of us has to go through which requires a sense of maturity, courage to find the things you should be looking for and the discpline to follow-through.