Canine Soul
by Felix Heng

Siva was born a Hindu. His large family was deeply religious. Before he was born his mother made a plea and a vow to the Gods that if her 4th born was a son , she would name him after Lord Shiva and the boy would be a vegetarian on the day he was born. Siva was born on Friday 19th November. He attended the neighbourhood school when he was growing up but soon his parents realized that he was a gifted scholar and should attend a better Government-aided school so that Siva could realize his full potential. After completing his primary school education, Siva was sent to the Anglo Christian Secondary School, a Methodist school. Religious education was part of the school’s curriculum and soon Siva was convinced that his religious affiliation lay with the Christian faith rather than the Hindu one. Initially his parents could not understand how this could happen and wondered what they had done to deserve such a fate that their first born son could grow up rejecting the Hindu faith. They threatened to take him out of the school but soon relented when they realized that no matter what they said and did , Siva’s faith in the religion was so strong that it did not matter and that he was going to make religion his way of life. Siva knew from then that he had the calling and that he would train to be a minister and go to work in some under developed country spreading the Christian faith. That became his dream, to be a servant of his Lord. After leaving secondary school, Siva enrolled in the Bible college he graduated in 2 years and then spent the next 2 ½ years doing his National Service. After completing his National Service Siva went on to do a Degree in Religious Knowledge. He was commited to the cause and was determined to be ordained so that he could fulfill his dream of serving the church in a less developed country. He got his wish a year after getting his degree and was sent to the village of Balomo in one of the remotest islands in the Philippines.
When he told his family and friends about his “posting” all of them were apprehensive. They knew nothing about the place and furthermore he would be completely cut off from modern civilization and amenities like the computer and telephones. Shanta his sister immediately searched the net on any information about the place and came up with a shocking discovery. The village had a dark history. It was so remote that it would take 3 days just to reach it from the main town and that was all on foot. The inhabitants, all 550 of them lived in huts and believed in bizarre religion which was a mixture of rituals that bordered on voodoo and worship of dead souls both of humans and animals. They believed that the souls of man and animal was interchangeable. They believed that certain people had the ability to take on the soul of an animal and become that animal. Most of the reported cases have been that of a human being becoming dogs. It bordered on the werewolf premise where the bitten human then becomes the werewolf and goes in search of blood to quench it’s thirst.
It was a tearful farewell at the airport when Siva left. His mother gave him a gold chain with a pendant shaped in the Hindu Ohm; the Hindu symbol of the eternal word. She made him promise never to take it off and he said ok.
When Siva first arrived in the village he received a luke warm welcome only because the villages were not used to seeing foreigners. Siva did not feel too alienated because his dark skin made it easier to blend in with the villages who all tended to be dark-skinned. He met a couple of villagers who were Christian converts and immediately set about working on building a school and a church. It was not going to be an easy task as there were only three of them. He shared the little wooden hut that Boon and Long made themselves. It was small but comfortable and each of them had their own rooms.
It was during one of their many chats after dinner that Boon and Tong asked Siva about the chain with the Hindu Ohm he wore around his neck. They wondered why as a Christian he still wore that and he told them that he had made a promise to his mother never to take it off. Siva then broached the subject of the werewolf legend and the 2 men told him this story……….
Many years ago a villager was out hunting in the nearby forest and forgot about the time. Before he realized how late it was , the forest had turned pitch black and he found himself lost and walking around in circles. The forest was not the place to be lost in in the middle of the night. There were many wild animals all looking for food at night. Wild animals are basically nocturnal animals; they sleep by day and prowl the forests at night looking for food. The man was not about to be some animals dinner that night so he climbed a tree to seek refuge for the night. He knew that he was never going to find his way back to the village that night so the best thing to do was to climb into a tree and wait there till daybreak. Just before he dropped off to sleep amidst the scary jungle sounds , he heard something that startled him. It was a cross between a roar and and banshee screech. It sent shivers up his spine and it sounded too close for comfort. The man stayed as quiet as he could although his pounding heart sounded like a bass drum beating in his ears. A shiver ran through his whole body as the thing screamed again ; this time it sounded like it came from the tree behind him. He could hear the branches shaking as the screech pieced the black jungle night. As he turned around trying to see through the blackness in the direction of the screech, he saw a pair of yellow slanted eyes staring back at him . He felt a scream build in his throat but before he could utter a sound, the creature leaped at him. He felt the weight of it on him and fell to the ground with a thud. Razor sharp claws dug deep into his chest and he felt the wet mouth and foul breath of the hairy creature on his neck. He felt a sharp pain as the creature’s fangs entered his throat and a warm liquid dripped slowly down his neck. He could not scream anymore and it was a strange sensation that filled him ; almost pleasurable. The creature leaped off him and vanished as swiftly as he had attacked him. The man raised his hand to his neck and felt two puncture wounds. Apart from the pain on the side of his body from the fall from the tree ; he did not feel any the worse. As he picked himself up , his head started to spin and he fell to the floor. He touched his head as he felt a massive headache coming on. His face felt strangely hairy and as he touched his arms they were all covered with hair. His mouth felt different too and it was then that he realized that his physical appearance had changed and he was almost animal in form. He let out a scream but it came out like an animal screech; quite like a dog baying the moon. He felt very thirsty but it was not for water; he wanted blood. His sense of smell had gotten very intense and he could smell the smell of fresh animal blood. He moved swiftly in that direction. He soon came to a clearing in the forest. It was a small farm surrounded by a wire fence and he could tell that there was a chicken coop nearby. He made his way to the coop but as he neared the chickens sensing danger started making a racket. They were going beserk in the hen house . The beast burst through the door and started attacking the chickens, tearing their necks open and drinking their blood to quench his insatiable lust for fresh blood. The lights of the farm house turned on and soon the farmer and 2 of his men carrying guns and flashlights burst through the chicken coop only to see the hairy beast jump out the window. The farmer opened fire and he heard the beast scream a blood curdling yell as he fell on the ground. The 3 men ran around the coop and as their flashlights turned on the beast , they gasped as they saw that they had shot one of their neighbours in the head. All three of them swore they had seen a hairy beast that night jumping out the window of the chicken coop. It was definitely not a human being. Being a small village , the matter was hushed up but the story was passed down from one generation to the next. Today the villages still make prayer offerings at the edge of the jungle to the beasts in the forests so that they will stay away from the village. The food offerings were also for the numerous stray dogs that roamed the village. Secretly the villagers feared the stray dogs although there had never been any instance where anyone had been bitten by one of these strays.
Siva asked if there were any other occurrences since that first incident and was told that over the last twenty years there had been stories of men venturing into the forests at night and never returning. There were also tales of people being dragged from their beds and never been seen again. The village had an unusual number of stray dogs and no one knew where these dogs came from. The villagers believed that the missing people had become these dogs which now roam the village in search of food. There had also been incidents of farm animals found dead with all their blood drained from their bodies. Siva knew then that he had his work cut out for him. It was going to be an uphill task trying to convince these villagers to stop believing in their old rituals and magic and to convert to Christianity.
After several months of working at building the school and church, Siva began to feel that he was slowly being accepted as one of the villagers. They were beginning to feel that he was not a threat. Most of them were friendly and starting to be curious about what he was doing there. One night as he lay on his bed contemplating the next days events he was startled by a strange howling which seemed to pierce the night air. Boon and Tong had gone to the town that night to buy supplies and since it was quite a distance had decided to spend the night there and return the next day. Siva was all alone that night. The house was at the edge of the forest so the back fence bordered dense trees. His body gave a little shudder as he felt a cold breeze suddenly blow through the small hut. He got up to shut the window. His room faced the forest at the back of the house. As he reached out for the latch on the window to shut it he noticed the bushes near the fence moving . It was pitch black outside but the light from his room threw enough light for him to see the outline of the shrubs and trees outside. There was a lot of movement out there but he could not see who or what was in the bushes. Siva decided to just shut the window and not be a hero and investigate. As he lay down the howling started again and this time it sounded like it came from right outside his window. He grabbed his bible from the side table and held it against his chest. As he started reciting the Lord’s prayer , the window burst open and something landed heavily on his back. He reached out for it and he grabbed a handful of fur. The thing had dug its sharp claws into his back and he felt the hot wet slimy mouth on his neck. The next second a searing pain swept through his neck and he felt a hot liquid trickle down his neck. He screamed in pain and he blacked out. When he came to Siva’s head was spinning and he had a hard time trying to focus. His eyes seemed to be prism like and it was like he was looking through a kaleidoscope . He felt a terrible thirst and his sense of smell seemed to be heightened so that his senses were bombarded by so many smells all at once. He sat up and looked at his hands . They were covered in fur. He got out of bed and turned around to look at the mirror above the dressing table. He could not comprehend what he was looking at. Staring back at him was a face not unlike that of a dog or wolf. His face was covered with hair and there were fangs sticking out of his mouth. He screamed long and hard and what came out of his mouth was a ear-piercing howl. He jumped onto the bed and leaped out the window. The forest seemed like the only place to he could run to. As the black enveloped him , the dog felt safe in it. It still needed to seek out the strong sweet smell that it kept smelling and also needed to satisfy the craving it suddenly felt for fresh blood.
The dog saw a light through the dense forest and headed for it. As it pushed the bushes aside it saw a lighted window. In the room was a teenage girl. She was no more than 15 years old. She was lying on her bed reading a book. The dog approached the open window. She was totally unaware that it was outside. It’s breath was hot and saliva dripped from it’s lips as it anticipated the fresh young blood it was going to taste. It crouched under the window and in one swift leap was on the bed on top of the girl. The dog’s body pinned hers to the mattress. As she screamed it howled in unison and bit her deep in the side of her neck. As the blood pulsed out onto it’s face it licked it’s lips and drank from her pulsating vein. It’s keen sense of hearing sensed noises on the other side of the door. The door was locked and whoever was trying to get in was now kicking the door in. It heard shouting coming from behind the door so it turned and jumped onto the window sill to make it’s getaway. The door gave way just as it leaped from the window and in a split second a shot rang out. The dog felt a sharp searing pain as the bullet tore into his side. It screamed and all that came out of it’s lips was the cry of a wounded animal. It fell heavily to the ground outside and limped towards the dark sanctuary of the forest.
When Boon and Tong returned to the village the next morning they could not find Siva anywhere. They searched the hut and he was nowhere to be found. Just as they were unpacking their bags, a villager rushed in and told them that they found something by the river and that the both of them should follow him. As they approached the river, they saw a lifeless body of a dog lying half in the stream. Its blood was still flowing from a gaping gunshot wound in his side. As they approached the body, both men let out a gasp as they saw a gold chain with the Hindu Ohm sign around the dog’s neck. In the background, the village dogs howled in unison like they were moaning the passing of one of their own.

The End