Story so far: Pari decides to take Puddles to the Animal Boy and find out if she’s a jackal or a dog.
“Hello Sheetal aunty,” said Diya, as Mrs. Kumar answered the door. “I’m going to teacher’s house to get the notes. Can Pari come along?” Pari was surprised to see Diya when she opened her bedroom door.
“I’ll go with you, Pari. Aunty Mira’s house isn’t too far from Jaggu’s place,” smiled Diya. Picking up Puddles from the garage, they headed out. On the way, Puddles jumped out of the basket and into a bush nearby. Pari screamed and dived after Puddles.
When she emerged with the pup in her arms, Diya shrieked, “What’s that?” She pointed to something stringy dangling from Puddles’ mouth. Before the girls could do anything, it disappeared into her mouth. Pari stuffed Puddles into the basket and they ran to Jaggu’s house. Luckily, Jaggu was in the courtyard playing marbles.
At Jaggu’s
“Jaggu,” shrieked Pari, and thrust Puddles in his arms. “Tell Puddles to vomit.”
Jaggu’s eyebrows shot up. “Vomit?”
“Puddles ate something with a tail. Get it out,” barked Pari.
“What kind of tail?” asked Jaggu.
‘”It was long,” explained Diya. She pulled out a twig from a bundle of sticks and measured a rough length.
“Did it have fur?” continued Jaggu, like a detective.
“Get it out of my puppy’s tummy and you’ll know!” snapped Pari. “You can talk to animals, can’t you?”
“I can’t talk to animals!” chuckled Jaggu. ‘But I can understand animals. You too can do that.”
Jaggu put Puddles down. “She seems fine. If the thing was causing her discomfort, she would be crying. Or acting weird. Plus, if she has any problem digesting it, she’ll vomit it out herself. Dogs can do that.”
What is Puddles?
Hearing the word ‘dogs’, Pari remembered why they were there. When she told Jaggu the story, he frowned and looked closely at Puddles. “Perhaps one parent was a dog and the other a jackal,” he said.
“She’s half dog,” grinned Pari.
“And half jackal,” added Jaggu. “She belongs in the forest.”
That night, when Pari told her parents her idea, they were pleasantly surprised. The next day, the veterinarian peered over his bifocals, and said, “Yes, it’s possible! She could be part-dog and part-jackal!’
So the Kumars went with Pari’s idea. They requested Jaggu to keep Puddles with the other animals on his farm, until she grew old enough to hunt alone. Then he would return her to the forest, from where she belonged. “That won’t be long,” thought Pari remembering how Puddles had hunted the creature with a tail!
The End
Published - November 17, 2022 01:35 pm IST
