The Enchanting Kingdom of Animals - My Childhood Pets

No, I am not done with dogs.

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That can never happen. I will always be a mama to these creatures, not just Inshy and Tasha who may have exited from my life, but surely not from my heart and soul. They live and will always live in my being, in the very core.

But it's time to move forward. Will that include a new pet? I don't know. For now, I can't say. My feeling of loss is too raw to consider that, but I also know there is an intense vacuum, an awful sense of being left alone, that will need to be filled. How much gardening can I do, after all, right?

And so, with no more heartbeats at my feet, the column gets a new name. To encompass my feelings for all living beings on God's great planet. This does not include human beings, only those from the Enchanting Kingdom of Animals.

Even as a child I had been fond of animals. I have grown up with all kinds of them, except dogs, ironically, since I come from a Muslim background. And dogs inside a house are taboo. Though let me assure you, no Muslim scholar or religious person has ever been able to give me a convincing answer to my "Why not?" But never mind that, like I said, let's move on...