Facing Reality

• Stephanie Sek, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2014

The light switches on. A cold blanket of fear smothers me. I slowly inch over to the corner of the room, trying not to appear scared, however it was something I could not control. My eyes look down, not wanting to make eye contact with him because I know I will regret it. His heavy boots make echoes through the small, concrete room. He approaches me and I growl. I bear my teeth at him, showing off my anger. He chuckles. A large hand comes down from way above me and grabs under my stomach. He lifts me up into the air and carries me along a hallway. I hear the groans and moans from my fellow species. They howl from in their confinements, and I become sadder each time I hear it. Mistreated and abandoned. I remember the times when I was just a youngling. My owner treated me well. I had toys and food. What has happened… the pound happened. We take a left, and I see a large counter with one sharp object laying across it. They place me down, and I squirm, but his huge, grubby hand restricts my escape. The other hand grabs the cylindrical, sharp object with some form of liquid inside it. He hovers it above my neck, and then he inserts the pointy end into it, injecting whatever liquid is inside of it. I squeal, but only for a second. Then everything goes numb, and I feel… different. My body does not move, in fact I feel as though I am not in my body anymore, mainly because I am not. I see my body below me, laying there quite peacefully. I am finally taller than the man, and that’s the last thing I remember...
I wake up with my family. They surround me. They run up to me and, at first, sniff me. And then they lick me. They lick me and say how much they’ve missed me. I’ve missed them too. What is happening? When the greeting is finally over, they tell me. They tell me how the cylindrical object is called a ‘needle’ and it puts you ‘permanently to sleep’. They say I am now in ‘heaven’, a place after death I suppose. Although, I like it. I like it more than being alive with him. When I finally understand everything to the best of my ability, they show me something that literally stuns me. A huge, huge grass field, filled with every assortment of toys. Next to it is a buffet of foods, ranging from salmon to gourmet doggy treats. I have never been happier, and I now get to spend it with my family. In a way, I like him. He gave me this, and I should thank him. That night, I fall asleep, and wake up surrounded by concrete. I smell the familiar dank smell, and see the same mossy water. It was a dream, all of it. And now I face reality.