caught up

200512111510hrs: S


We have around ten or so dogs. I don’t know the exact count because after the tenth puppy was born, I stopped counting. Having a lot of dogs isn’t necessarily fortunate. I’m close to only two dogs; the rest, sometimes all they seem to be are snouts to feed. Of course, all those food must go somewhere; and the place they go to is usually the other end of my dust pan after I scour around the yard for them in the mornings. The result of which is, I have a very fertile backyard.

They can also be gadawful noisy. When I have visitors, I’ll be enlightened of that fact immediately. The whole neighborhood will be enlightened of that fact immediately.

Of late, the dogs don’t distinguish between wordly and otherwordly visitors- or so my father tells me. For more than a few weeks now, I’m being woken up in the middle of the night by the dogs’ howling. I’m always often in a deep sleep so I’m not bothered. I just wake up for a few seconds, long enough for my mind to register the sound of dogs howling. However, the dogs have got my father spooked, so he says we have to give the dogs away.

Not that I mind. What I am minding though is my father’s reason for giving the dogs away. He says ghosts are inhabiting the backyard. I scratch my head and say, “Why didn’t they inhabit the yard in the summer? Why only now?”

“Switch on every light in the house at night, so ghosts won’t live here,” he says. Then he turns to leave. After making sure that I understood his instructions. I think, what instructions? All that’ll do is to make the electric company richer.

I really don’t know what he’s talking about.

Or maybe I do. Maybe my ghosts have finally caught up with me.