Waiting

• Jessica Napoletano, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2012

Ear piercing howls for freedom. Deafening cries to go back the life we used to live. The excruciating pain running through our bodies from the hard concrete. The thought of being left here. Forever.
I was bought here by an unknown person who did not have any kindness in his heart. The man’s rough hands grabbed me violently and threw me in the back of a truck. Little did I know, I was being brought to a place where the yelps and cries of other dogs were never ending. A place where I would be treated as if I wasn’t there. The only time I got to see humans is when they walk through glaring at us as if we were dirty, rotten creatures that deserve no better than to be neglected. I long for my old family. The people who used to love me and take care of me. I have memories of when they would take me to the meadow and let me run free. I would chase the butterflies and have the time of my life. I think of them often and wonder why they would let people take me away and be kept like this. Every time I go to sleep, I have a reoccurring dream of being free, my ears flopping in the wind and my tail wagging as I run towards my old owners. It seems that this dream will never become a reality. I will always be stuck in this dark, dingy cage in the back of this forbidding place never to be free again. My stomach has been empty for the last 2 days. I am surprisingly glad when the man who threw me into the truck, who I believe is called Hugo, came past my cage and gave me a small amount of ill tasting dog food. I ravenously eat all that is in my bowl as I am desperate. After I finish I drift off to sleep.
I hadn’t been asleep for very long when I suddenly woke up due to the loud creaking noise of the visitor’s gate opening. That gate hasn’t been opened for a long time. A family of four walk in. They are gazing at all the dogs and commenting on each one. They begin to approach the dog directly across from me and stare at it for a while. The man then says, “We’ll take this one.” Hugo then came and opened the dog’s cage. The women then cradled the dog in her arms. A little boy comes along to my cage and calls out to his parents “What about this one?” The parents and a little girl stroll over and say again to Hugo “We’ll take this one too.” I am taken out of my cage and given to the man. He strokes me gently. With just a touch from this man, I know I am safe. I know I am free.