Jerry was jolted awake. He found himself on a strange, never-ending road. There was nothing in sight, just the freshly tarred road that was as straight as an arrow.
“Where am I?” he thought as he took a few steps forward cautiously. It seemed like a dream to him, but this was not like his normal dreams.
As he continued walking, he noticed a mysterious figure. It was not moving. It looked like it was standing still, waiting for him.
As Jerry got nearer, he realised it was a dog. A dog that looked familiar, but he could not put his finger on it.
He tried to approach the dog, but before he could get any closer, it ran away. He did not think much of it and started walking to see where the road would take him.
He was about to give up and lay down, but then he could see the dog in the distance. This time it was with another person.
As he approached them, the human figure disappeared into thin air. The dog, however, was still there. It looked like it was waiting for him again.
He came close enough to see a name on the dog’s collar – Spotty.
Spotty ran off again, but this time, it went off the road. Strangely, a new road appeared where Spotty ran across.
Jerry’s curiosity moved him to follow Spotty.
“This must be a dream,” he thought to himself. “How else can you explain a road just appearing out of thin air.”
A little relieved from his realisation, Jerry decided to play along with the dream and see how far he could go with it. He tried not to lose sight of Spotty but failed terribly.
Jerry continued on his way and came across a wrecked car – it looked like it had just happened. The car’s front section was damaged, and there was no one around.
“My dad used to have a similar car … the same colour too,” Jerry thought to himself.
He passed the car and noticed the road had potholes, and there was debris all over it.
He wanted to turn back but found it hard to walk. Just then, he heard Spotty barking. He turned and saw the dog off the road again.
Once again, a new road appeared where Spotty was.
It was clear and clean.
The dog did not wait around this time. It just ran off. Jerry followed the dog. “Walking on this road will be much easier,” he thought.
It seemed like every detour Jerry took, he encountered something strange, but familiar.
Every time the road changed for the worst, or something creepy or scary happened, Spotty barked and led him to a new, and better path.
Jerry approached what looked like the end of the road. There was a massive door, but he couldn’t see into it, as a bright light coming out of the door, blinded him.
Spotty was there at the door waiting for him. The dog looked Jerry in the eye, let out a bark and walked in. Jerry was not sure if he should follow Spotty.
Just then, there was a knock on the door where Jerry lived.
It was his mother, checking up on him as he had not been in touch for two days. She was worried and decided to check on her only son.
He did not pick up his phone when she called, and there was no answer when she knocked on the door.
His mother used her spare key and entered Jerry’s home.
“That’s strange …” she thought to herself, “Even that mangy mutt that Jerry looks after is not here. Where could they be?”
“Jerry never goes anywhere without that dog. They are inseparable.”
Jerry met that dog when he was 15. He fought with his father and wanted to run away from home.
As he was leaving, he found the dog at the front of the gate. Instead of running away, he decided to stay and take care of the dog.
When Jerry got into a bad accident with his father’s car and needed multiple surgeries and rehabilitation, it was that dog that was always by his side, going through everything with him.
Jerry’s mother was never a fan of the dog but allowed Jerry to keep it as they seemed attached.
All of a sudden, there was a knock on the front door.
“Is that Jerry? Did he forget his keys?” Jerry’s mother thought to herself.
She rushed to the front door and opened it. To her surprise, there were two police officers.
“Hi ma’am, do you know Jerry Wilson? This is his last known address. We are trying to locate his next of kin.”
Jerry’s mother told them who she was, and that she was there looking for him, too.
“Sorry to tell you, ma’am, Jerry was involved in a hit and run. He didn’t make it,” said one of the officers.
“What!” that was the only thing she could mutter.
“Ma’am …” the officer continued, “we need to clarify something with you. We also found a dog by your son’s body. It does not seem like the dog was involved in the accident.
“Strangely, it was also lifeless with its head on your son’s chest. As though it chose to die there.”
The officers continued: “We found this collar on the dog. Do you know this dog?”
Jerry’s mother took the collar and looked at it. The collar had the word ‘Spotty’ on it.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
To give the younger generation an avenue to express themselves, Twentytwo13 now has a dedicated space called Young Voices. If you are a young writer (aged between 12 and 17) and would like to have your article published on our news website, send your contribution to editor@twentytwo13.my.
All articles must be accompanied by the young writer’s full name, MyKad number, contact number, and the mobile number of the young writer’s parents/guardians for verification purposes.
