The QUEEN of Hearts

“Where are the miracles when you want them the most?” is what I asked Shruti when I was looking for our precious Rani, in a village far, far away from her home.
The news came as a shock to all of us. There wasn’t a soul on earth who met Rani and didn’t fall in love with her, ‘obsessed with pleasing everyone nature.’ She lived with us for so many months, and she was an integral part of The Paws Pack, our best success story. Little did we know that a few months down the line we would curse ourselves for not being more aware, more careful, and more judicious before letting her go. We knew we gave her away knowing half the truth, but what’s the point in blaming strangers?
Saying we all were devastated would be an understatement. Nothing went right that day. The night seemed darker than ever, the sounds seemed louder than ever, and the only image that everyone had was of a Rani, who was so harassed and stressed, that she did something none of us would have expected her to; ran away.
The night I found out about this I decided, I have never in my life left anything on fate and Rani will not be an exception. So I decided to go along with Parinit to the area from where she ran away and look everywhere possible and increase my chances of seeing her again. Very unlike me, when we started for that village, I was full of optimism, and self- assurance that today I am going to find her, she is going to come running towards me and I am going to bring her back home. But as hours went by, looking through the same streets, under the cars, and inside small houses, and in garbage dumps, my confidence level lowered to zero, if it wasn’t for Parinit constantly reminding me that she couldn’t have possibly gone too far away, I would have probably collapsed and started to weep. We came back after 5 hours of in vain searching, and I couldn’t help but notice each dog that passed me by that day in the hope that it’s Rani. I called the man who apparently had her for a few days without our knowledge. I told him how he should feel terribly sorry for what he has done, and how he took away someone so precious from us. I didn’t know my words could have an influence on anyone. I came back home earlier in the evening and slept off. My aunt told me I was crying in my sleep, although I don’t remember it. What I do remember is dreaming about Rani, and wondering what thoughts must be going on in her head. I was sure she must be thinking why we left her in such a place? If we hated her so much, that we weren’t ready to wait until someone genuine comes along, who loves her as much as we do?
Later that evening when I woke up, my dad asked me details about Rani, and he asked me to go and check the same place again tomorrow, because he had a very strong feeling we would find her there. In fact I felt the same way. I immediately messaged Shruti and asked her if it was possible to arrange for a search- team by tomorrow morning itself, as I didn’t want to waste any time. She said she was thinking and trying to arrange for the same things. Within an hour of sending that message, I got a call from the guy who was originally supposed to keep Rani, but had given her off to some other fellow. He told me very curtly that he is dropping her off to that girl’s place who was the reason for our Rani’s plight, and that I should go and pick her up. I had no time to argue or worry about his curtness, all I could think about was ‘I am getting Rani back.’ I called up Shruti; we decided to not tell anyone until I see it with my own two eyes that it is Rani. The journey from my place, until Rani felt longer than the half an hour it took. I kept my fingers crossed and kept praying for her to be Rani. As I walked close to the gate I saw the same paws, and the same eyes, and I couldn’t stop shaking. For that brief moment I was incapable of carrying out small, everyday tasks. Opening the latch, the gate, shutting it back, felt like calculus. The moment of truth was calling out, “Rani…” and having her respond by running right onto my lap and licking my face. She recognized both me and Parinit, and was more than happy to leave immediately.
She sat very comfortably in the car, like she belonged there. She acknowledged our presence every now and then and we were so ecstatic to have her back that we started serenading songs for her. Shruti and Neha too were thrilled to watch her jump out of the car and into their arms. None of us cried then, we were all cried out. And this concept of ‘tears of joy’ is a little hard for me to digest personally. I can only and only think of smiling like there’s no tomorrow when someone you love comes back to you from the dead.
Rani, to me, looked like she had matured, with experience of having survived this unbelievable rollercoaster ride. She had lost a lot of weight, but our dear Kamlesh would take care of that within a few days. Rani didn’t do much the night we found her, besides smothering us with kisses, having a hearty meal, and catching up on some lost sleep. She looked like an angel. I made a note to myself that night, ‘Miracles are there, where you look for them.’