2. The Surprise

(C) Sun Wukong 2018

Dedication

This short story is dedicated to Roselyn C, my new friend.

In transit heading south on the main road going toward the large university in the late afternoon in early October, the One Ear Man noticed a College-age Student entering the bus. She took a seat near the One Ear Man.

Within a stop or two, she retrieved from her backpack a poster-size picture of a puppy and looked longingly at it. Time passed. She continued to stare at the picture. "Your dog?" asked the One Ear Man.

The College-age Student simply nodded. She looked so sad.

"I lost my Shih Tzu two days ago. I put posters up everywhere I could think of. No luck with finding my dog!”

She continues to look at the photo. As time passes, she appears to look even sadder.

"Your situation reminds me of a story," said the One Ear Man. Allow me to tell it to you. Without waiting for a response, he continues. It takes place once upon a time, in a far off land that is made up of many islands. It is a very hot country located in the tropics. It is a place that most Canadians dream about, especially in the dead of winter. It has palm trees, white sandy beaches and in many areas, crystal clear ocean water. Brightly coloured tropical flowers are blooming continuously everywhere. If you are a flower person, you will love this place. The people enjoy many festivals year round. It is a time when people can relax, dress in colourful clothing and enjoy the dancing, music and especially the food. Most of the population are very friendly and have a good heart. Smiles are everywhere at the festival time!

But, it is not the paradise as you may well imagine. Its central city is more extensive than this one. People grumble all the time about traffic congestion and the fact that there is little work. Another substantial complaint is that in the rainy season -- and they mean it -- it rains and rains and rains some more. Umbrellas are the order of the day.

Anyway, I have said enough for you to understand the background. Let me get on with the story. It involves a College-age Student, just like yourself. She is about your age. The central character of this story is a puppy. To begin.

The College-age Student carefully listened to the story the One Ear Man was beginning to tell.

This College-age Student who lives in a distant land, woke late one day in July. Lying in bed, she heard the ceaseless pitter-patter of the rain against the window, just to her left and above her queen size bed. This month is the rainy month in this part of the world, she reasoned. The rain, she thought is probably the reason for sleeping in later than usual. Why is it raining so much the College-age Student grumbled.

The College-age Student slowly dragged herself out of bed, slid out of her T-shirt and shorts and headed for the shower. She enjoys her hot soapy shower followed by an even hotter cup of coffee. This is usually the first order of business each and every morning.

What is today? What should I do today? She mulls it over. Once dressed, she ate and began surfing the internet. What is on her To-Do List she started to think. Hmm.

Like many of her age, with time on their hands, she heads to the SM Mall of Asia, biggest mall in the country by using a handy, colourful jeepney. Everything seems so vivid in this place, said the One Ear Man. The mall is not far since she lives near Pasay, the mall’s location. In Manila, the jeepney is a popular transport since it holds 6 passengers. There are many round and about.

The Manila traffic is light at this time of the day, and the driver is able. Only one stop needed to be made to pick up a passenger. In no time at all, they reached their destination. Once she alighted from the jeepney, she memorizes the entrance number she is about to enter as the mall is huge and she has been lost previously.

The mall is cavernous. It has multi-floors and hundreds of stores. They don’t call it a SuperMall or SM for nothing. Many of the stores sell shoes. What mall doesn’t chuckled the One Ear Man? This is a particular favourite place of this College-age Student, just past. There are also many places to dine. There is such a variety. Food from what seems everywhere is available! The SM also has a full-size Amusement Park. Can you imagine, inside of a mall no less? Many people love to hang out at the SM.

The College-age Student begins walking along the various corridors of Level 1 with no particular goal in mind. Eventually, she went up an escalator to explore Level 2. There is much to see, and she often stopped along the way to window-shop, especially at windows that display the latest in shoes. This past-time she truly enjoys. Women the world over have turned to window-shop into an art form, the One Ear Man muses.

Her tummy tells her it is near noon, and so it was. Finding a place to eat and after studying the menu, she decided on sinigang soup. She enjoys the sour taste. Besides, they had fish as the main ingredient in this offering today, and that is her first choice.

Following lunch, the College-age Student continues on her meandering. She ends up on the next level of the SM.

Around a corner and down the hall near a computer store, the College-age Student comes across a pet store. She loves animals, especially dogs. Entering the store, she is confronted with so many items for sale for not only dogs and cats but birds and even the more exotic creatures such as snakes. She made her way to the puppy area.

There the College-age Student saw an enclosure holding the cutest little puppies that she ever did see. They were so adorable, lively and loving to play tag with each other. The Uniformed Dog Attendant with a gold-coloured name tag was nearby, so the College-age Student asked, “These puppies are the cutest puppies I have seen in my entire life. What breed are they?”

“They are Shih Tzu, also known as Tibet terrier. Some people call them a Chrysanthemum dog, like the flower we call mums. I suppose the colour is similar,” guessed the Uniformed Dog Attendant with a gold-coloured name tag.

Well, it didn't take the College-age Student long to fall in love with the Shih Tzu puppies. Without too much thinking, she decides to buy one, even though she could hardly afford it. She bought the one she thought the friendliest. Clutching a bill-of-sale, its vaccination papers that include its tattoo number, out the pet store door she went, the proud owner of an eight-week-old energetic puppy squirming in her arms.

The puppy indeed was an armful!

The College-age Student did not get too far away from the pet store when the Shih Tzu from Tibet started to misbehave in her arms. She is such a ball of energy, the College-age Student said to herself. The puppy twisted this way and that, trying to get out of what she probably thought as an arm lock on her freedom. The Shih Tzu was very squirmy, to say the least.

The long and the short of it is that the puppy succeeded in breaking free of the College-age Student and scampered this way and that down the Level 3 hallway. She dodged shoppers here and there and disappeared around the first corner.

“Oh my God,” the College-age Student said out loud. I have not owned the puppy for more than 10 minutes, and I have lost her! She was very depressed. No, she was more than that. She was devastated. She began to cry. She was crying right there in the public hallway of the SM! People began to stare.

The travelling companion of the One Ear Man, listening intently began getting emotional, and her eyes started welling up.

Well, the College-age Student started walking quickly in the SM looking for the Chrysanthemum puppy. Crying and walking, she looks here and there, asking various people if they had seen a loose puppy. Nobody admitted they had. She decided right there and then to call it Squirmy. That, she thought, seemed most appropriate. And so it was. Squirmy it is. Her puppy Squirmy was on the loose. She was probably enjoying the most fun in her short life! The College-age Student was crying and walking and crying some more as she was looking for her little puppy. No, the College-age Student was not having fun. Not by any means. Not at all.

Around the corner, near a movie theatre, the College-age Student spotted an elderly man and a preschool child putting up a poster with a picture of a cute puppy on it. Racing over to them, she read the sign.‘Found, a young what may be a Chinese dog.’ There was a telephone number at the bottom of the poster. The young girl was actually holding the puppy while the old man, perhaps her grandfather was putting the sign on the Lost ‘n Found Board adjacent the doors of the movie theatre.

Hey! I think that is my puppy exclaimed the College-age Student. What a surprise this is! My lucky day, after all, she shouted as she produced a bill-of-sale. The Kindly Olden Man and the College-age Student checked the puppies tattoo with what was written on the bill-of-sale. They match!

“Yes,” said the Kindly Olden Man, “it is your lucky day. What a surprise this turns out to be finding your puppy.”

The College-age Student really didn’t hear the Kindly Olden Man. She was too busy hugging and kissing Squirmy!