The Dog In The Rain

I made a promise to myself that if I survived the 10th of July 2011, I would write this article.   No Lagosian would forget in a jiffy the down-pour that left nothing but disaster in it’ wake. The downpour that made people bid the world farewell in such an undignified state and didn’t so much as give them the slightest opportunity to bid farewell to their loved ones and enemies….or how else would you explain a Flood that ferried (for free) a couple (who were at different places) to their destination of Death?!

Terrible you say???? I know!!!! Mama Nature must have been very angry and sullen because according to statistics, a Month’s rain-fall fell on that day leaving the entire state confounded..

The Dog in the Rain……the Dog in the Rain…. On that fateful day, I opened the  Door wanting to go outside and see how much Water had found it”s way into our Compound so I could plan on the next step..whether to prepare for the worst and start to bid my farewell or just take a chill pill at being such a Jerk and stop thinking about Death when Lo and behold, a scenario I had not anticipated hit me in the Face.

I stood at the door-way staring at my Neighbor’s Dog crouched against the Wall and as soon as it sighted the presence of a much superior being a few metres away, it sauntered back into the Rain.       “why are you in the Rain, you Stupid Dog” I almost retorted but then, I remembered it”s Cage was no ‘Rain-Proof’ or as I would like to call it….. “a pro-Rain Cage”         Dammit….Dammit!!!! I watched the Dog on all Fours shaking itself vigorously trying to ward off the Water from seeping into it’s Fur(Okay People, get your imaginative Juices flowing and imagine with me : Imagine you are lying in Bed, a well made one with a Duvet to cover your self from Head to Toe, a Smile on your Face and suddenly…oh suddenly….some Force beyond your control pours Bucket loads of Water on you, the Duvet, Bed cover and you would have to wait till they dried up…..how do you feel?…..that is how that Dog must have felt).

I looked into the Dog’s Eyes and I could almost feel us communicating in the subconscious. I think i felt it say to me ‘take me into your House, get me dry and feed me…please????’     ‘how I go carry person Dog inside my house?? wetin I go tell my Mama’…I thought to myself. As I watched the walk back to its cage of Doom, my countenance changed from Anger (at the Dog for standing in the Rain) to pity to Remorse and back to Anger but this time, I was angry at the World, at Nature, at people and at my Neighbor who I believed must have been curled up in Bed and couldn’t care less about his Dog.              “Idiot” I muttered under my breath.

I closed my Door feeling Rueful and then it hit me  “am I  grateful”??  “am I grateful for the Food, the Water, clothes, the Television, the Money”??  “am I even grateful at all for anything”?? That is the moral of ‘THE DOG IN THE RAIN’. If we aren’t grateful for the little we have, how do we expect God to bless us with more?? If we aren’t grateful for the little we have and crave for the little/much others have so we can add to the little we have which then leads to Greed, Envy, Strife…what then is the way forward?? I am GRATEFUL for my my House that kept me Dry on that day and I hope the DOG IN THAT RAIN is grateful for it’s “pro- Rain Cage”.

Writer- Tayo Adelekan and his Twitter handle is @Teeonair