My dog, Captain, used to be a stray dog. 6 years ago, he met me when I was on my way to the school summer camp with mum. He was just following us until my mum said, ‘Let’s adopt this dog’ the only thing I remember is that the dog was cute, but dirty.

The dog then became one of our family members. I remember when I was still a primary school student, every time I came back home, the first one to greet me was Captain. Whenever I was doing homework, he would stay with me until I was done. I still remember his ridiculous look when he hung his tongue in his mouth with his saliva dropping out.

Captain seemed to have a human like sense, when I finished my homework, he always looked at me with sorry eyes. When I saw this, I knew that he needed to have a walk or eat. I always would pick up the dog leash enjoying the walk with Captain.

When I was primary six, I needed to move to Hong Kong and prepare for middle school. ‘Its fine my friend, I’ll come back soon!’ After saying that, the pandemic spread in Hong Kong. I couldn’t go back home to visit Captain. The only chance I could see him was from the picture that dad sent to me.

Captain started to get sick while I was away. Seeing Captain getting thinner and thinner, I was so sad watching him not moving anymore but I couldn’t do anything.

On November the 6th, the day after I finished my final exam, I went home happily. When I got home, I received a call from my dad, he said that Captain just passed away. My joy of finishing the exam disappeared, and I began to cry, as if I had never felt so sad before…

Today, I still have the photo of Captain on my desk. Whenever I get tired of studying, I look at Captain. He seems still beside me, his eyes seem to encourage me. If one day I sneeze, that must be Captain thinking about me.

Captain, thank you.