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Memories of my first love are still very much alive in my head. Unlike most people who fall in love with fellow human beings, I fell in love with my neighbor's dog named spike. I know Spike from when it was very little till it grew up into a smart powerful dog in the way it handles every task assigned to it. What really impressed me more was how intelligent and friendly the dog grew up to be. At one point in my life I was really afraid of dogs and that was due to the negative stories I've heard concerning dogs, I never thought I would ever be close to one talk more of touching its body. What really gave me the courage to touch Spike’s body was because he is always coming close to me and appears to be friendly. I also love its color which is a combination of black and brown. Most times in the evening, after I'm done with the day's work and sit outside within the compound to retire, Spike will always come to keep me company and it really started from when he was little. I watched Spike grow up but even in those days when he was still little he always had some means of spotting me outside and coming running towards me.
I've never been the type that goes out a lot and most of my evenings were spent outside on a special chair that allows me to be half lying down and half sitting. In those moments, what I do most is listen to music or stare out observing the beauty of nature, sometimes my neighbor will join me and we can chat and gist all evening till it gets dark and sometimes late in the night before we get inside. Me and my neighbor have grown really close because of the nature of our jobs and the fact that we share the same life experiences with women. We were more like two brothers who lived together in one house very close to the woods. Before Spike came into the picture, Some nights would be nights of good conversations, enjoying each other's presence with a good bottle of beer or wine sometimes.
Spoke was like a second friend for both of us and we enjoyed his presence, the only place he's not allowed to go is near the woods. So we both look out for him to make sure his close to the house.
A day came when there was no sign of Spike, I had waited all evening on my chair hoping to be spotted by Spike but Spike didn't show up. I waited for my neighbor who was inside to come outside because I had a feeling Spike was with him. It took quite some time before my neighbor came out. Unlike me, the first question I asked him was concerning Spike’s whereabouts. He told me Spike was not inside but may be somewhere around because it hasn't been long he saw him leave the house. I took it upon myself to call out on Spike’s name yet there was silence. That was the moment when we started searching for him, we first searched all round within the compound till it became certain that he was not around. We decided to check out for him on a wider scale, so we got back inside and picked up our defensive equipment and a flash light before going near the woods. As we went I kept calling Spike's name till we entered the woods.
We were under the shades of tall trees searching for Spike till it got very dark and unsafe to continue before we headed back. I started thinking, perhaps he must have fallen into a trap of one of the hunters in the woods and maybe if not rescued will die in pain. Another thought came to my mind, maybe a wild animal more powerful than him caught him somewhere out of sight and overpowered him then took him away but I quickly waved it off because there was no sign of any struggles or footprints like that and I wouldn't also love it to be the case. There were a lot of wild noises in the woods that night, though it's nothing new but for the fact that there has been an occurrence everything will seem to be suspicious. Just as we came out of the woods, the fear that has been upon me for a while started to fade off gradually because I know that we have just gotten out of the dangerous woods and it will be a terrible thing for evil to befall us even when we can't find any trace of the main thing that led us in.
Both I and my neighbor weren't talking about anything, neither of us were in the mood to talk as we continued heading back. Deep down within myself I know that if this dog can disappear suddenly just like that, it means that we can't be 100% sure of our safety too. From a distance I could see the light on the frontage of our building, though the light appeared to be bright on the bulb but not didn't completely brighten up the environment. Directly under the bulb on top of the last stairs to get to the entrance of the bungalow lay a strange structure that first appeared lifeless but then moved its head. Without doubt I knew it was Spike, so I called my neighbor's attention and said that our good boy is back home. He looked up and was so happy and we ran back to meet him. When he sensed us from a distance he came down running to us till we three got reunited again. None of us could contain our happiness and Spike was happy too by the way he welcomed us.
Some months later my neighbor broke the news of his relocation. He told me the reason behind his movement and since it was all for good, I had no choice left but to bid them farewell. Truly I miss Spike and I miss all the wonderful times we've been together.
Thank you very much for stopping by to read my post.