Simba, My New Cherished Furry, Was One of the Few Reasons That Made My First Volunteering Program Bearable

Simba looks very much like the beautiful creature on the cover image. There was a good explanation for taking the picture. She didn’t seem to feel alright, but that’s a story for another time.

I spent 3 weeks with my new cherished furry Simba without thinking of keeping any physical memory of her. In such circumstances, I may feel bothered by how present I am!

From the very first day, our bond was instant. I automatically thought of one of my treasured soul friends who told me about the meaning of a dog lying on the back and exposing the belly: pure trust!

Here are some of the reasons for which I feel grateful to Simba:

Her unconditional love

As you may have already guessed from the introduction, she is a creature full of love. Any day is a good day to show her heartwarming affection. She is the first face I see when I wake up — earlier than the group most of the time.

She doesn’t have a kennel, sadly enough. A too-old couch in the ‘ecological’ platform is all that she has. It broke and is still breaking my heart that I could not save her and find a real family who could take good care of her.

Before going to the ‘bathroom’ and washing my face, I head in her direction. She recognizes the smell from distance, gets excited, and asks for being petted, which I feel fortunate to offer!

Her exquisite patience and being a role model to my fur kid Mimi

Having no house for her was not the only symptom of neglect. Her food is of the worst quality. She hates it and only eats it out of hunger. Because I was aware there were no pet shops around, I bought Mimi’s food from Sao Paulo.

I asked one of the community members — the generous guy who offered his mattress in replacement for my infested one — whether he could buy better quality for her even in a small quantity when he went to the city. He said he would but couldn’t fulfill his promise because of lacking money.

I didn’t have much choice but to give her some of Mimi’s food and I am happy I did! Not only did she love it; but she also was such a fabulous role model to my baby. Her patience while waiting for her turn was phenomenal.

She helped me teach my only spoiled kid the beautiful virtue of sharing and being patient. For this, I will never thank her enough!

She was my muse sent by the Universe to finish healing a deep wound

Three months before meeting Simba, I was the witness to a horrible death. The victim was a dog looking exactly like Simba.

The criminal didn’t even try to stop his car before crashing her. She transitioned in my arms. Below is an extract:

I stopped my car and ran to check in on him/her — it turned out to be a “her”. She was almost motionless. Her eyes were open and her tongue was outside her mouth to the left.

I became hysterical crying and screaming while asking for help. I was in front of an English language academy. The security guards came in my direction. They told me that the monster who crashed her didn’t even try to stop his car.

I felt so angry and disgusted, but I cared more about saving her life at the moment. The guys were sharing some suspicious looks. One of them decided to speak up, eventually:

You never witnessed an animal dying before, did you? I’m afraid it’s too late for her… Her soul is being set free.

I couldn’t accept it and kept asking him to help put her in the car. I saw a change in his facial expression. There was a girl behind me. She gently made me stand up while informing me she was gone…

It was far more than what I could handle! I probably spent 15 min shaking, crying all the tears off my body, and cursing in the arms of the lovely girl who didn’t stop reassuring me that everything was going to be alright.

She was my muse sent by the Universe when I needed it the most!

When I calmed down, ultimately, one of the school employees who joined us after a while told me, “you didn’t mean to kill her; you have nothing to be afraid of; God will be merciful, my daughter.”

Before I could reply, everybody told him it wasn’t me. His facial expression was saying, “I don’t get it! Then, why did you have such an overwrought reaction?”.

Honestly, I sympathize. It has never been easy for people following my re-birth to understand my “exaggerated” feelings — everything being filtered through our lenses. I don’t try to make them get it. It would be a lost cause, anyway.

How would I explain my feelings to a person whose only concerns are their first circle, no matter what it is? How would I describe the unconditional love that I unleashed with re-writing my program for myself, pure strangers, and the whole universe?

Most importantly, even if I could find a way, the question is, “would it be worth it?”. It seems to me that, when we are not interacting with like-minded and light-hearted folks, deep and real discussions would be draining instead of nurturing.

Yes, I was too late and couldn't save the innocent dog. Yes, the wound was too deep and the sorrow seemingly unbearable. I was able to heal the major part mainly through writing about it and receiving the priceless compassion of my soul friends here.

Simba was the magical cure to wholly heal the scar without even planning to!

Because they look so similar, with every gratitude look I was receiving from Simba, I was imagining the one I couldn't save comforting me, telling me that I did my best and that this was merely an "Au Revoir"!