Joy of reunion

Yesterday morning I wrote the post about the dog, my new friend in Mae Haad, and then decided to visit him. So I got on the scooter in the afternoon and set off for my old home, but this time without being checked by the police. I was hungry and ordered watermelon and pineapple to take away at the entrance to the village. While the stall owner was cleaning and portioning the chilled fruit on ice, I quickly went to the supermarket to get treats for the dog - I didn't want to be seen there empty-handed. I picked up my fruit, which was packed in two bags, and then parked the scooter at Wang Sai Resort as usual, slipped through the restaurant, and headed to the beach. I walked past the tables and chairs that were set up there and soon our old huts appeared under the trees.

I looked out for my friend, wondering if he was there and if he would recognize me. How would he react?

I had passed the first huts and reached the height of the utility building where he usually stayed. There he was, walking parallel to me along the brackish water. He had seen me, but he was still unsure if it was really me. He didn't take his eyes off me and when I called to him and made myself known to him, he couldn't hold back anymore, sprinted off, and without taking the makeshift bridge, jumped over the ditch at full speed. I crouched down to receive him at eye level. He jumped on me in joy, licked me, my hands and face. I had to resist so much unbridled joy. He squirmed and wriggled uncontrollably in my arms, rolled onto his back, and I stroked his chest and belly. In doing so, he kicked his legs in the air so wildly that I got a few scratches from his claws, but it didn't matter.

The joy was immense and exuberant, even for me. I had never seen my otherwise sad and cautious friend like this, not even remotely.

After we had greeted each other extensively, I got up and walked to the resort to greet the caretakers, always with the dog by my side, who never took his eyes off me, happy and also hoping for a nice treat, as his look was also very expectant and excited. I sat down at a table, reached into my bag, but first unpacked my fruit, which my friend watched with his eyes, while I put the bags on the table. But now I reached into my bag again and pulled out the treats for the dog, tore open the packaging and pulled out a stick. I had barely taken it out of the package when the dog snatched the stick and greedily devoured it in place. He didn't bother looking for a safe spot anymore. As soon as the delicacy was devoured, he looked at me expectantly again and I handed him the next stick - today there was a large portion, in celebration of the day.

I petted and patted the dog, who had sat down next to me, while I skewered my fruit with a wooden stick, enjoyed it, and tried to talk to the caretakers. The man was happy to see me, but immediately went to catch squid, while the woman, as unimpressed as ever, watered her plants. The dog curiously followed every movement of mine with his eyes, tried to reach the stick with the fruit with his snout, but I successfully prevented him. After all, I didn't want him to hurt himself on the sharp object, and he wouldn't like the fruit anyway.

I had left late and therefore couldn't stay too long, so I packed up my things, said goodbye to the woman and also to my friend. I held his head with both hands, looked into his eyes, and explained to him that I would have to leave again now. He didn't understand, of course, but I had to go anyway. I stood up, took my bag, and started walking. Without hesitation, he followed me across the wooden bridge to the beach. I knelt down to him again, stroked him, said goodbye again, and promised to come back soon. When I continued walking and he followed me again, I told him to run back, which of course he didn't understand or simply ignored. While I kept walking, I suddenly had concerns that he might follow me all the way to Wang Sai or even further. When we reached his territory boundary and he caught the scent marks left by other dogs and suddenly became more interested in them, I took advantage of the short moment of distraction and quickly disappeared into the restaurant. I glanced back twice briefly to make sure he wasn't following me, which fortunately wasn't the case. I would have liked to take him with me, even to Germany, but would that be good for him? Locked up alone in my small apartment for many hours, reduced to a few short walks? Definitely not, I won't do that to him. Here he lives in the wild, in the fresh air, with all the freedoms, he can come and go as he pleases - I won't take that away from him.

Shantaram - I will call him Shantaram.