In my childhood, I committed horrible “crimes” with my little companions. In retrospect, I can see how mischievous we were.

When I was in primary school, I hung out with my playmates a lot. A normal Friday afternoon would see us get together in our yard. At one rendezvous, one day we found a helpless but adorable puppy lying there all alone. We could not help petting it. Having compared notes, the pack decided to adopt it since no one came and claimed it. Obviously, the poor canine was abandoned.

First, we found a cardboard box and fetched some worn clothes from our homes. Then we lined the box with the material to make a kennel for our puppy. After we settled it in, it was decided that the dog home was to be put temporarily on the rooftop of our tower block, since our parents adopted a no-pet-indoors policy.

First thing after school every day, we mounted the staircase to the rooftop to check on our puppy. We would take some bread and milk to it. A few days later, we gave it a name, Alan. Showered with our care and love, Alan became a bit stronger and started to respond to us with his eyes and tail. The little tail would wag merrily anytime we turned up. Time with Alan was heavenly.

One day I came up to meet Alan on the rooftop, but he was nowhere to be found. Upon inquiry, other members of the pack sadly told me mournfully that Alan had died. I could not believe it. My friends took me to a corner of our yard, where the poor creature was lying motionless in the box, dead. We all shed many a tear and felt sorry about it. It turned out that Alan had dropped off the roof to his death while we were away at school. We felt great repentance. We should not have kept Alan on the rooftop in the first place.

The next day, we paid the pet our last respects before we dug a hole in a grove at the neighbourhood, where Alan was laid to rest. For years, my companions and I visited Alan’s grave on Qingming. We even burnt his favourite bones for Alan. At the little service, we reminisced about the joy the little companion had brought to us. Grief could not be wiped off our hearts.

Had we not adopted Alan, he could not have perished in our hands. Had we not sited his provisional home at that high place, Alan would not have fallen down to his death.

Sorry, Alan.