The Dog Spoke ③ [Oh... Oh...]

<Episode 3> “Oh... Oh...”

Hmm? Something feels ticklish.

Let me sleep for five more minutes.

Tickle, tickle...

I get it, Mom, stop doing that to my face.

Tickle, tickle...

When I finally opened my eyes a crack,
there was a close-up of a tongue and a furry face. When I jumped up, shouting “Whoa!”, Sato-san leaped back and scurried back into his cage as if running away.

Oh, right.
I had been sleeping next to Sato-san’s cage. Light was streaming into the living room through a gap in the curtains. It was the third morning. Perhaps feeling safe, he had come out of his cage and seemed to have been licking my face.

He approached my futon again, timidly, with my sleepy eyes watching, and curled up into a ball next to me.
When I tried to touch him, he stiffened for a moment. But then, as if his wariness was melting away, he sniffed the back of my hand and gave it a few licks with his tiny tongue. He rubbed his little walnut-sized head against my knee. I was so happy, but I kept my voice down so as not to startle him, even though I was excited inside.

“Dad, Dad, Sato-san came out!”
“Sato-san must really like you, Momo-chan.”

Dad muttered as he prepared breakfast. I felt so proud of that, and I wanted to be acknowledged even more.

At two months old, he wobbles when he walks. He hasn't quite mastered his short legs yet. The adorableness of his stumbling. He leans against my knee so earnestly, looking up at me with an innocent expression as if to say, “Hmm?” It’s devastatingly cute. I can’t get enough of it.

Sometimes he yaps like a puppy, but other times he makes a strange sound like “Oh... Oh...”. Is this normal for a dog? Since it’s my first time, I don’t really know.

“Oh... Oh...”

“What is it?”

“Oh... Oh...”

“Are you hungry?”

The pleading expression he turned toward me. I couldn't help but feel that he had some intention he wanted to convey.

“Look, Sato-san is saying something.”

"There's no way a dog can talk." Mom, having just woken up, dismisses me casually while tying her hair back.

Dad says, "That's amazing. If a dog can talk, let's make it spin around three times and say 'Hello'."

"Cold." Whether he's joking or just being childish, he's absolutely no help.

I know. I know a dog can't talk. I know that much.
I'm in fifth grade now, so I think I have a sense of what's real. But, you know, when I look into Sato-san's eyes, that's just what I want to say. That he's trying to tell me something.

◆

From dozens of meters away in the outer corridor as I come home, Sato-san recognizes my footsteps. By the time I open the door, he's breathless, running over with a pitter-patter and leaping at me. He sniffs, jumping around like a rubber ball, and scratches my stomach with his front paws, which are starting to grow claws. Because he stretches so hard, he falls over onto his back again and again. That's so endearing and irresistible, that I
"Oh, you silly thing."
I say, with a salty expression of affection, and hug him tightly.

He wags his little tail for all he's worth. With his round, pitch-black eyes, looking up at me sadly with eyes like wet glass marbles.
He's trying to tell me something important. Something very, very important.

"Oh, oh"

"Do you like Momo-chan?"

"Oh, oh"

"See, he looks like he wants to say something." I'm so happy, I tell Mom, "He's trying to tell us something, look."

"That's normal. Isn't that just how puppies are? Maybe he's still too small to bark properly."

No, that's not it, Mom.
I can tell by looking into his eyes. He's trying to say something.
He opens his mouth wide, 'O', and sticks his snout out like a howl, 'U'

"Oh-oo, oh-oo"

"Hey, Mom, hey Mom, look."

When I tugged on the hem of her knit sweater, she brushed me off with her hand.

"Honestly, stop being so clingy. You're not five years old anymore. Pull yourself together. There's no way Sato-san can talk. Change the toilet sheet yourself, too. I'm worried that you're still living in such a fantasy world."

With a sigh, she dropped a small complaint, "I wonder who you take after," onto the floor and left the room.

"Geez."

Mom is always irritated.
When I was little, she used to give me much kinder smiles...
Yes, it's my fault. I know. Ever since 'that happened' last year, I've been a burden to Mom and Dad. That's why sometimes, Mom cries secretly in the middle room. But no one talks about it. This awkward consideration is also uncomfortable.

While I was feeling troubled by things like that, on the other side of my consciousness, I suddenly felt something strange.
I heard something faintly, as if it were tickling the back of my eardrums.

"Moo..."

Hm?

"Moo... moo..."

A faint, high-pitched voice, barely audible?

"Momo..."

Huh!? Momo?
Did I hear "Momo"? Did you call me?
I look around the room, but no one is there.

"Momo..."

Only Sato-san is here. Looking at me.

"Momo..."

Sato-san is staring right at my face...

Huh... huh?

Could it be... could it really be...?

(To be continued...)

To Episode 1 Previous Next