Jane

             
           “It’s good for the plants, Mrs. Williams”, said Jane. But as usual, Mrs. Williams didn’t understand anything that Jane was saying. She made the same disgusted expression that she made almost every day and went inside her house. Jane ran into the bushes separating her and Mrs. Williams’ house. She kept running till she reached her ‘spot’ in the bushes and then she sat there. Soon enough, she located the green shoe that was almost not visible now because of all the plants growing around it. It was Andy’s green shoe.

She lay down there and thought about the first time she met Andy. She had been just five years old and she was living at Uncle Tom’s farm at that time. All day long, she would be running and playing around the fields. Uncle Tom used to grow several fruits, vegetables and herbs on his farm. One day, accidentally she had fallen into a well. She screamed for help but no one could hear her. Then all of a sudden, a boy had jumped in. He took her in his arms and brought her out. Later on she realized that it was their neighbour’s son, Andy. She had seen him a couple of times but had never really interacted with him as he was much older than her. She had always been kind of shy. Even till today.

The sprinklers in her garden had started and she was brought back to reality. It also reminded her of her fear of water which had been triggered by the ‘well’ incident. Since the day Andy had saved her, they had become really great friends. She would run around with him in the fields and play ball with him. Those were really good days-- lots of fresh milk, healthy food and plenty of exercise. Unfortunately good times don’t often last forever.

Jane could still remember that day. Uncle Tom had become really old and expenses too had greatly gone up. He was going to sell his land to one of the various land-hungry hotel owners and then go and stay with her daughter abroad. Exactly two years since the ‘well’ incident, Jane could remember sitting in Uncle Tom’s car on way to his niece’s house. His niece stayed somewhere in the inner part of a city. As he was leaving in a couple of days, he was going to leave Jane there.  Jane wanted to stay with Andy. You could see it in her eyes. But Andy was off to college.

Andy had accompanied Uncle Tom on the ride to his niece’s house. Jane sat on Andy’s lap silently. She didn’t know what to expect. When they reached their destination and she saw the family that she was going to stay with, she just wanted to cry. Not that this new family weren’t good people or anything, but they weren’t Uncle Tom and Andy. As Andy and Uncle Tom were about to leave, Jane ran outside taking one of Andy’s green shoes and hid in the bushes. She reasoned that Andy won’t leave without both his shoes.

Andy came out of the house and he saw Jane immediately hiding in the bushes. He didn’t go towards her but instead said a few words to Uncle Tom’s niece, Maria and her husband, David. “Jane is really shy and never really demanding. She also doesn’t show her emotions that easily. Do take good care of her. Hopefully I will be able to come and meet her again sometime”, he said. Andy then got into the car with Uncle Tom and they left. Jane had come running out as the car left the drive-way and she saw Andy looking back and waving at her. She just stood there, motionless.

Many months had passed since that day. Jane had pretty much settled into her new home and family but whenever she was frightened or irritated because of something, she would come to this spot. The same spot where she had hidden Andy’s shoe. Then Jane would be completely at peace. The shoe had a positive effect on Jane. Also, she had hidden the shoe in such a location that Maria, David or the gardener had not discovered it till now. It was even more difficult now with the flora growing around it. Many days, she just spent lying down near the green shoe and thinking about Uncle Tom and Andy. She also secretly hoped that one day Andy would come back for his shoe and then probably take Jane along as well.

From her spot, she could see Mrs. Williams stepping out of her house and heading towards Jane’s house. Jane came out running and stood in front of the door of her house. Then she started barking at Mrs. Williams. Jane’s tail was wagging furiously, as it always did whenever she was excited.

“You stupid dog”, Mrs. Williams shouted at Jane. The noise coming from her garden made Maria come running out and she swiftly pulled the Dalmatian away from Mrs. Williams and tied her to the fence. She stroked Jane’s back with her hand and calmed her down. Then she took Mrs. Williams inside the house for a cup of tea. Jane could hear Mrs. Williams’ voice even outside.  “Your dog has been messing up my garden again! You really should keep her tied up all the time” she shouted. Maria calmed her down and said. “I don’t know what makes Jane go over to your side! But anyway dogs always tend to hide their bones and so they do dig little holes around in the ground and it’s supposed to be good for the plants as…”