Chapter 1: Escape

Life on the streets isn't as hard as human pets make it out to be.

Now, a life spent as a human's prisoner is hard. More than hard, really. It's a nightmare!

What makes it worse, is that there is no comfort. You cannot hope, you cannot dream, you cannot truly live. The only thing you can do is curl up and wait to die.

My story starts at a time where everyone wanted to give up, except me. Maybe it was because I didn't know any better as a puppy, but I will leave that up to you decide.

***

"Wake up, wake up!" I prodded my cage mate's spotted flank. He sighed and rolled over.

"Leave me alone, Feran," he growled.

But I didn't.

"Come on, Drop! I want to know why the humans didn't come and feed us."

This grabbed Drop's attention. He sat up and looked at me. "What did you say?"

I looked at our bowls and then back at him. "See for yourself."

Drop shoved past me to get to the bowls. "I will know if your lying," he warned. I shrugged, wondering why the older dog thought I would lie. There wouldn't be any reason to.

With a few sniffs, a worried look took root in Drop's cloudy blue eyes. He sniffed the air.

"What is it?" I questioned.

"Nothing." Drop laid back down to give me some room. The cage was overall pretty small, but with one of us standing up, most of the space was taken up.

"Come on! Tell me. I have a right to know!"

Drop growled at me, which was something I was used to, but this time it sounded different. He must be really worried, I thought. It was that or his bones were hurting again.

"You don't have any right to know. You're a pup." Drop told me.

I flattened my ears at his reminder and went to lay down in the corner. "Everyone was once a pup," I mumbled.

One of Drop's ears twitched, but I knew that he didn't hear me. After all, he is half deaf.

The day continued, slowly in my opinion. My stomach grumbled and I sighed. I sighed a few more times, assuming that a human would come and feed me if I did. No human came, but Drop did snap at me. Literally! Now my ear hurts.

There wasn't much to do in the cage I was in. Drop was old and didn't want to talk to me, while everything else happening outside the cage was too depressing to acknowledge.

It seemed that no one got fed today, which meant moans and groans echoed off the concrete walls. The funny thing about concrete is it is cold. I shivered. Whether it be under your paws (which it was) or surrounding you (definitely was), it didn't exactly keep in the small amount of heat in the space.

I laid my head on my paws. I must've sat there for a while and fell asleep because I woke up to the sound of feet hitting the ground. More like slapping the ground. They weren't dog feet because I could smell the leather (and dogs have paws, not feet). At first, I was excited. Someone was coming to feed me and Drop! But, I soon could tell by the dead silence in the room and slight whines, that we weren't getting fed. Something else was about to happen, and it either related to me or Drop, because the human was heading straight for our cage.

Stumbling back, I stepped on Drop's face. His blue eyes opened, drowsy, then alert. He stood up when he noticed the human, and flattened me against the cage in the process. His reaction scared me. I didn't realize I was whimpering until Drop told me to be quiet.

"Stay behind me," Drop ordered.

I did as I was told. I never liked humans. They always scared me. Especially when they came for the dogs. Sure, they were scary when they were walking around. Humans were big! But, they scared me more because they would come and fetch dogs from their cages. Those dogs were usually prisoners who had been here for a long time, but as soon as the humans took them away, those dogs never came back.

I tried asking Drop about it, but he ignored me. He must have not liked my question. He never liked questions in general. Always said that it is better not to know.

The human bent down to unlock the cage and that was when I realized what was happening. One of us was going to be taken away. Drop had been here longer than me, so it was most likely him, which did not make me feel any better.

Amidst my panic, Drop leaned down to speak to me. "As soon as that cage door opens, I want you to run over there." He gestured with his head to a door that was propped open for the man who was carrying in bags of food.

"What, no! I won't leave you!" I tried to protest, but Drop shoved me a little bit forward to get me ready.

"You will do as I say, Feran!" Drop seemed genuinely distressed. He must know what is going to happen too.

I let out a whine. The human was going to take Drop and he expected me to leave him behind and run (well, I see the reasoning in that now, but definitely not then).

There was no choice in the matter and if the humans were going to take Drop away, I didn't want to stay, so I got ready to run for my life.

The countdown started.

One.

The human bent down.

Two.

The human fumbled with the lock.

Three.

The cage door slowly opened and a hand reached in. The poor guy. That was his mistake. Drop lunged with a growl and bit down. The human cried out, leaving the cage door open for me to run.

"Go!" Drop shouted at me.

I went. My paws skidded on the metal, but as I shoved past the man, my pawsteps became more steady. I ran and ran, forgetting where I was going. I stopped for a moment to look around. The other humans in the facility were coming out, finally realizing what was happening. I spotted the open door. The human who was bringing in the food had just come inside with another bag.

I sprinted towards the door, avoiding the human lady who had tried to reach out and pick me up. The man with the bag was startled by me and accidentally dropped it. All of the bag's contents poured out, tempting me with its delicious smell. But I knew I couldn't stop because all the humans were right behind me.

The fresh air hit me as soon as I ran through the door. There were so many smells! I never knew so many smells could exist. I spent most of my life in a cage, but it felt like my entire life.

My paws were on asphalt now and it was starting to hurt, but I didn't dare stop or even look behind me. Drop had sacrificed himself for me and I wouldn't let that be for nothing.

Time flew by when you were running. I didn't know I had to stop until my chest ached and my legs were on fire. I looked around. There were no houses, buildings, roads, or any signs of humans. That was a relief. What wasn't a relief was that instead of being in the middle of a city knowing that there were other dogs and people around, I was in the middle of a desert. Yes, a desert.

Complete with cacti and sand. It wasn't so bad, though. There were rocks that would protect me when the sun came back up, as it was setting already, and there was the sound of water. Wait, water?

I sniffed the air. Drop once told me about tracking scents. It was a brief lesson, but I made sure to remember it if I ever was freed. Now, I was free. Thanks to him.

Remembering my lesson, I followed the scent of water, plus the sound. The louder the sound and the stronger the scent, the closer the water. I licked my lips, excited for some water. I must've ran for miles because my whole body begged for rest and my mouth was so, so dry.

The ground started to slope into a dip. That's when I saw the water. It was a stream. A stream! In a desert! I trotted towards it and lapped as much as I could. When I was done, I explored the area.

Soon, the red light from the setting sun disappeared and was replaced by the light of the moon and stars. It was so beautiful out here.

Turns out that I was in a wash and it even had a small shelter. I sniffed the entrance. It smelled similar to a dog, but whatever it was hadn't been there for a long time, so I decided it was safe.

I went in and was surprised at how spacious it was. The inside was hollowed out with walls and a roof made out of packed earth. It took no time to go to sleep. My last thoughts were what would happen next. I was all alone out here.