“Bonkers, they didn’t. As they played with the two pups, I saw a feeling of mild disappointment in

Sam’s eyes. He left his sister to play with the dogs and walked up the aisle again. He threw a

brief look at me and walked ahead a few paces. Disgruntled, I placed my chin on the floor.

Shortly after, he came back and looked at me again. I saw his eyes - big, black, and full of hope.

I’d never seen a pair of human eyes speak so much in so little time. He looked straight into my

eyes, and I stood right there - in the stillness of mild hypnosis. My eyes widened, and I just kept

looking at him, and he at me. I do not know what happened between us in those few seconds.

But one thing became clear to me - Sam was my family, and his family was mine. Sam looked

around for an attendant and asked him to place me in his lap,” Loki didn’t realize when he had

closed his eyes and sat down just like a pup while narrating that bit, almost as if he could play

that clip in his head at will.

Krishna Vemuri