I remember once, when I was about 10-13 years of age I had a very frightening night... It happened during the summer period of the year, whereby it was very uncomfortable during the nights. I slept alone and my room had a single window which faced a small cluster of trees. I went to sleep at about 9 or 10 o'clock as usual that night but my sleep was disrupted. I don't know why. Maybe because of the heat or of some noise, I don't remember. During these days, everyone at home slept with closed windows because being a tropical island, Mauritius is also a feeding place for mosquitoes. What I mean to say is that my room was completely closed both from the inside and the outside. Now I had the habit of sleeping on the side and whenever I opened my eyes I could only see a plain wall and the empty space between the wall and my bed.
This particular night however, when I opened my eyes, I saw a dog in a sitting position directly in front of me at a distance of about 1.5 meters from my eyes. It was already very scary but what was more horrifying was that the dog had numerous eyes. How many, I don't know but there were many and they were quite visible in the moonlight. There were some cushions which my mother always put beside me to prevent me from falling off the bed but that night, they were put to some other use.
As soon as I saw the dog I lowered my gaze and my head slightly underneath the cushion, as if a protective barrier. I was sweating profusely and still didn't have the courage to make a sound or move. Then, very slowly, I raised my head, millimeter after millimeter, until I saw the dog again. It was black. It didn't move or make any sound, just looked at me with its many eyes. Much later I told myself that it was my imagination or reflections of the trees' shades but now, I know deep inside that what I saw wasn't some playful shadows.
The dog was distinct from the ground and the wall; it had a definite shape and was in itself not part of my surroundings. I continued playing hide and seek with it for some 2-3 hours. I prayed but nothing changed. Finally exhausted, I fell asleep hiding beneath my cushions. In the morning, it had disappeared and never again did I see it.
Much much later, I connected this apparition with the fact that once, I had many dogs. My father was a dog lover. But they were all dead before that particular night. Maybe it was a way of telling me they were going or that they are here, I don't know, or maybe even it wasn't them but something different.
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