Before I knew it, this was my 102nd T-shirt.

And then, 102, 101... it suddenly occurred to me,

the movie '101 Dalmatians'.

It's a film featuring an unbelievable number of puppies,

but '101 Dalmatians' isn't just a fictional story.

When I was a child, I had a dog, and today, I live with dogs.

I suppose that's how it is,

but in my childhood, adults looked down on dogs, calling them beasts.

In the last few decades, the relationship between people and animals has shifted from 'keeping' to 'living with',

and in a way, animals are now valued more than people?

This awareness has changed, but my era was different.

Back then, dogs were only allowed to be kept outside,

so my dog, with whom I lived, whether I wanted it or not,

was defenseless against the male dogs' advances, their mating rituals?

She became pregnant precisely during her twice-yearly heat cycles.

As a child, I was powerless against the aggressive males and their heat.

And so, puppies were born,

at first, like in Disney's 'One Hundred and One Dalmatians' (my favorite),

the breed I had, influenced by Belle from 'One Hundred and One Dalmatians', had long, drooping ears and was very cute.

So the puppies born were, truly, incredibly cute,

about five were born in a single night. But,

the second time, that increased to eight, and as it continued for the third, fourth, and fifth times,

they gradually changed from very cute puppies to just a little cute.

Moreover, with each successive litter, stillborn puppies also increased...

Even as a child, this transformation was intense. What was this?

The mystery of the dog as a creature, of animals as beings, their ecology.

Even more so, the adults who silently watched and accepted these things,

which were beyond a child's comprehension... as they were.

Since I myself was being looked after, perhaps out of consideration,

I had no choice but to remain silent. Probably.

'Poor thing, why make her have puppies again when she clearly doesn't want to?'

As a child, I couldn't ask such questions.

Still, thanks to that dog, I think I, an only child who was being boarded, was greatly comforted.

(Of course, I wasn't aware of that at the time.)

Playing with 'Lucky', the name of my beloved dog, was a joy, but

it's not that I don't have some somber memories associated with living with animals.

Wait, I didn't intend for this to be a somber story today...

I'll conclude by saying I'd like to live with a dog again someday in my life.

But then again... I'm not very good at living with people either... I wonder...

Lucky~ And so, I resolve to make another T-shirt tomorrow.

Oh, and I also recommended it to Yuri Shimojo, a painter active in Brooklyn,

a masterpiece I'd recommend to anyone who loves animals:

'Listen to the Dog, Listen to the Hare: Methods of Inter-Species Communication'

By J. Allen Boone (Original Work) Translated by Keiichi Ueno

P.S. Please also pay attention to 'TSURU', where Yuri Shimojo is working hard.

TSURU

← Diary-T 99~104