2005-06-03 10:27:01吉永綠

A Call from Dog

Marilyn Chiang
May 19, 2005

A bell jangled me into wakefulness. I rolled to the edge of my bed and reached for the telephone. It was from Dog, one of my best friends.
“I just can’t find one complete pair of socks.” He said. I was so happy to get his call, for he hadn’t called me for like a hundred years.
“All the socks I can find are of different colors. This makes me unable to wear shorts on such hot summer days. ….” He laughed bitterly a little bit.
“Then we should really go shopping.” I replied warmly.
Dog always loved me so dearly and he wanted me to love him, too. I did love him, however, just not in the way he wished. He was mad at me when he knew that I wanted to be with another guy. We kind of had a fight over that. And I’d never seen him as mad as that. He had refused either to see me or even to answer my calls. He became indifferent to me. I was sad for this and for several days before I went to sleep, I shed tears and prayed that we could be back for good like before.
It was a bright sunny day when we came to the shopping mall, Carrefour. I was on his arm, laughing like a little child. I told him many interesting things that had happened to me during the days he hadn’t heard from me. Carefully, I tried to avoid everything that might remind him about the fight we’d just had. He smiled and looked like he was really happy. I hadn’t seen him smile like that. It seemed like it didn’t bother him anymore whomever I wanted to be with. I felt a little bit surprised, yet really happy about it─finally, Dog had forgiven me and loved me again.
“I need several pairs of new socks and one pack of dog food.” Dog said. And I chose them for him and told him why I chose these but not others. Most of time, he took my advice. He gave me advice, too, especially when I had some problems in studying or working. He was a good counselor. Yes, he was a good counselor for me, a dear friend, and maybe sometimes, a lover. Like he always did, I tried to figure out why I couldn’t just be his lover, only his lover. However, I couldn’t find the answer. It seemed to me not important at all. I cared about him, and that’s only what I am sure about.
“Don’t you know I can’t sleep at night?” Dog suddenly said. I felt so sorry hearing that. However, what he said sounded just like a song I had heard last night. It sang like this, “I called your name, but you’re not there…..I can’t go on.”
The bell rang again and jangled me into wakefulness. I rolled to the edge of my bed and reached for the telephone. Before I answered the call, I suddenly realized that the shopping was simply a dream. It was a dark rainy morning. Dog hadn’t called.
And I had really lost a friend.