In 2002 and 2003, I was living in Oklahoma and having a very painfully lonely life. As a student in Ithaca, NY, I had a great social life, but Oklahoma was totally a different creature. I didn't have any friend to spend time with after 5 pm everyday, and every weekend was a mental torture. For the first time in my life, I experienced what it’s like to be totally alone. That’s something you can understand only by experiencing it. Really, you could get insane. You may think that rejection is the worst emotion you could experience in life, but I can tell you that hopelessness is equally bad and it usually lasts longer. Every time I saw a happy family, I hated them for being happy. You may complain about your job, republicans, the coffee machines in your office, being single and Facebook's new UI, but if you have one human being you can chat with in person when you need one, you are lucky.

I would cry in my bed at night and feel depressed when I woke up every morning. I would also close the door of my office just to collapse for a few minutes alone. The only "imaginary" friend was my dog I used to have in Japan. His name was Bunn (like the food) and he had crossed over several years before that time. He used to like a shoe-shaped toy and I would speak to him, holding the same toy I bought at Petsmart. I would often try to imagine he was living in my apartment with me. I had a few dreams about him, but that didn’t help me. It wasn’t real enough to me.

One night, the emotional pain was so unbearable that I burst into tears in my bedroom. I cried loud and started to yell at him—or just into the air. I said, "I'm so sick and tired of this! I don't want to see you in my dreams again! If you are really, really here, just PHYSICALLY appear in front of my eyes! Otherwise I won't believe you or anything written in those books! Show yourself, right NOW!"

I waited for 15-20 seconds gazing into the empty space in my bed room, hoping to witness a miracle, and...nothing happened. I pulled up my blanket—hurt and disappointed. And I eventually fell asleep. I really didn’t drop my belief in afterlife, but I was so angry at the Universe, for not responding to my desperate request.

Next morning, when I was about to drive out of my apartment complex, I saw a pick-up truck waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Then on that truck...I saw the exact same kind of dog as Bunn!

I have to tell you that he was a Japanese breed called Kishu and it's rare even in Japan. As far as I know there's only one breeder of Kishu in the US. Ithaca was an very international city and I actually saw a Kishu just once there—but never before or after...except that one time that morning, in the middle of Oklahoma, and that was the very next morning after I asked my dog to physically appear to let me know he was with me.

With tears falling on my cheeks, I started to drive to my office. He never appeared in my dream again. Once again, the Universe won, not by dumping me like trash but by showing me some hope. Several months later, my previous boss saved me from Oklahoma.