A Christmas story…. (reader submission)

Photo: Archive

We only missed Linla towards the end of the afternoon. Linla is the sister of Mimi, two 'thoroughbred Thai' dogs and now 5 years old. They came to live with us when Mona, labrador, was still alive with Sam Lie, another thoroughbred (meaning a cocktail of 'anything and everything') Thai dog who is just under a year older than Linla and Mimi. In the course of 2013, Mona passed away.

Sam Lie, Mimi and Linla are all three white dogs, females (neutered) and now mature and sturdy. Mimi is a bit heavy, Linla is petite and Samlie is the smallest and oldest of the three. And when it comes to hunting, Sam Lie is the most skilled and driven. No snake is safe from her and she also catches mice like the best.

They all have their own room, equipped with mattresses upholstered with terry cloth, an air conditioner and air conditioning and, if it is very cold, also heating. During cleaning in the morning there is 'Spa music'. When Thai people see that, they say that these dogs have a lot of 'scrub' and that means that they did very well in a previous life.

They have plenty of space within the walled garden and they are constantly running when imaginary prey is sighted or when packs of dogs strike nearby, or when the gate opens to let cars in or out. Then they storm off. If it is a well-known car, they walk around wagging their tails in the expectation that something to eat has probably been brought. Is it an unknown car, they bark loudly and get in the way so that we often have a thousand fears that they will be run over. Because, because they never walk outside the walls, they are not used to traffic and we are concerned that if they do, they will be hit by a car.

Also within the walls lives a small black dog, entered through the soft-heartedness of the son of Chamrat's brother, who lives with his wife Maai in an adjoining house. The son was still living at home when he volunteered at Care for Dogs, a dog shelter run almost exclusively by volunteers, and there he lost his heart to a puppy that came running at him every time he came. He couldn't resist and took the animal home with him and because he was often away, later permanently out of the house, mother and father had to take care of Happy, as he was called. And then it turns out that a dog does not become obedient and docile by itself.
Originally probably related to the border collie, she bravely participates when there is something to do for the dogs. She is, by nature, fast as lightning and, like Sam Lie, loves to hunt. She catches birds from flight and also goes after snakes and mice, but is not as agile as Sam Lie in catching and killing.

And then, in the late afternoon of October 27, Linla had disappeared. It was dinner time and usually all the dogs would come to the kitchen on their own, but this time Linla wasn't there. A search through the entire garden, all buildings and rooms, made us fear that she had left the garden when sister-in-law Maai's car came in and did not return in time before the (remote-controlled) door closed again.

So panic! We searched everywhere outside the wall, but as more than half an hour had probably passed before we discovered she was not there, the chances of finding her in the immediate vicinity were slim. Maai immediately put the missing person on Facebook, with a photo and the announcement that 10.000 baht was waiting for the finder.
Posters were put up nearby, the village chief announced it during the morning news and in no time the whole village knew that Baan Farang was missing a white dog. And everyone started looking because 10.000 baht is quite an amount, almost a month's wages.

Without result. Linla was missing and stayed away. Occasionally a report came in of having seen a white dog, but it always turned out to be an empty message. We kept hoping and despairing. Brother Akom got out of bed before dawn to search the area. Our housekeeper, Boarieaw, was searching every spare moment, calling and whistling but to no avail.

Maai went to a fortune teller, who told her that Linla was still alive and had started walking south-east and was staying in a dense forest. And that she withdrew when strangers came looking for her. An inventive villager had also gone to a fortune teller and was told that Linla had been taken in by someone on the other side of the forest, but that turned out to be incorrect.

We constantly tormented ourselves with fearful thoughts of what might have happened. A hit and then lying injured somewhere on the side of the road, bitten by a snake, and we wondered how she got through the nights when it was cold. And how she would manage now that the nights were getting colder and colder.

Boarieaw thought he had traces in the woods and set out to put food down and check every moment to see if it had been eaten. And she was delighted when it turned out that the food was gone. And that spurred her on to bring food again. But as time went by, hope faded. We decided to just accept the fact that she was probably no longer alive and tried to get on with the business of the day.

The remaining dogs were also completely out of their ordinary. They continued to search, rather sadly and quietly, and they no longer frolicked so exuberantly. Mimi in particular clearly missed her sister and we were constantly plagued by vain hopes that things would turn out well. Every call from a villager who thought he had a tip sparked hope only to turn back to sadness. It was especially hard to let go at night. Every time the pack of stray dogs nearby started barking, we listened for Linla's specific barking among them, and then we fell back into a light sleep. Worries are always much more drastic at night, we knew that, but that didn't make the pain any easier.

To live is to suffer. In an attempt to put the misery into perspective, we suggested that this may be the Karma that Linla still had to redeem from a previous life. And that our suffering had something to do with it. And we wondered how long it would take for the loss to wear off.

Then, on Sunday morning, November 11, we were just up and busy in the bathroom, there was a sound of elated voices outside. And from the balcony we saw a bustle of interest at the gate and in the midst of Maai and Akom and the three remaining dogs we saw Boarieaw with her sister and she had a dirty white, somewhat gaunt but lively looking at her, Linla at the line.

Tears of joy.

Submitted by Thijs