THE DOG WHO LED ME HOME
It was too dark to go up the hill. Filling the void inside me was even harder to avoid. It was not heartbreak, nor was it helplessness. It was an unknown force pulling me down. Being in the third year of research, I began to question my worth. My mother tongue was heard only through phone calls. There was no one to tap my back and say, “I’m there for you.” Even God felt distant. My thoughts were louder than the silence. I switched everything off — the lights, the induction stove, the noise inside me — And I walked out. I dared to walk out. Tenhrill, Aizawl I barely saw anyone. Only a small shop was open in Tenhrill, Aizawl, Mizoram. I went in and bought a packet of biscuits. While paying, I felt something move near my feet. A puppy. Hardly three or four months old. No parents. No dog parent around. Even the shopkeeper said he had never seen the dog before. Now, I had company. I fed him biscuits. His tiny teeth checked eve...