Ria’s home,

Mumbai-69

Dear Ria,

I miss you. I know it’s only been a few weeks since I died, but I can’t stop thinking about you. All I know is that I was in so much pain… and then I just wasn’t. And I was so happy you set me free, you always did love me. But I’ve also seen your sadness after I joined the stars. I’m sorry I let go.

I made a new friend here, I call him Prof. because he was owned by a scientist and always wanted to be one. He explained all those big words you used to say, like “climate change”, “radiation”, “global warming”, “environment”, “plastic” and “farting”. I remember when I used to “fart” on you.

Now I know why the cold and heat was always so extreme. Do you know, up here, with the stars, the weather is always perfect? That’s the weather that Earth is losing. I have seen a lot in my years as a street dog that I couldn’t tell you when you took me in as your pet. I saw dogs dying in the heat, the cold, and the rain. I have seen my friends dying because they ate plastic, because they were so hungry during the quarantine. I have seen dogs being poisoned because humans did not want to live with them in peace. I have seen abuse that no human has seen, that I had to live with without telling anyone because I could not speak.

And then I remember you and all you did to change what was happening. The days we both used to go to the park when you planted trees. The days you protested with the environment people. The things you did to help animals. The changes needed to heal the world are so small, Ria. Recyclable plastic. Stronger poaching, deforestation and animal abuse laws. No littering. Wastewater purification. Not treating the ocean as a giant trash can. And yet humans refuse to take these small steps to save their own planet, just because they cannot be bothered.

I do not understand human stupidity Ria, but what I can tell you is this: soon the human race is going to pay for their folly… unless something changes.

Yours lovingly,

Your dog Max