30 November 2019
Yesterday at pre-dawn a dog appeared in my friend’s dream. It was a longish dog with light fur.
Not having much contact with animals, my friend’s default reaction at seeing the creature was fear. But the dog approached my friend calmly and brushed his face gently against his back. Upon this contact, the dreamer woke up. The time was 4.15am.
My friend tried going back to sleep but couldn’t.
What could this dog mean? He was puzzled. He hadn’t been thinking about dogs or any animal
But the peace he felt at the encounter both intrigued him and contradicted how he had been taught to view dogs as a threat.
And since sleep was no longer possible, my friend decided to perform his morning prayers, and included the welfare of animal beings in his supplication this time.
It then dawned on him that the canine that came to nuzzle him in his dream and got him to get up & pray at 4.45am was Shoya, my dog that had passed away in 2014!
As my friend didn’t want to read too much into a dream, Shoya or otherwise, he tried to shrug the dog off.
But throughout the day at work, the dream dog remained in his mind.
So on his drive home he decided to tell me about the dream. He was also wondering if he was just being overly sentimental.
But what my friend didn’t know prior to sharing this dream with me was that in about a week’s time, it’s Shoya’s 5th Anniversary (8th Dec).
And for the past two weeks, by way of blessing my departed dog, I’ve been putting Shoya’s picture in the gentle morning light streaming through the window.
Also of late I’ve been looking at pictures of Shoya with this friend that was taken on the morning of Hari Raya 2013. That was also the year Shoya was diagnosed with a liver tumor. My friend had come straight from the mosque after morning prayers to bless him.
For someone who knows little about dog care, my friend has certainly done more than his share at critical moments.
And yesterday being Friday, Shoya could have visited his benefactor in a dream to thank him for his kindness, and to assure his mama that the physical forms will decay, but all prayers and gestures of love will stay.
Lisa Ong 