Mackey's Fresh Start

• Vanessa Van Der Mast, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2018

I sit, curled on my lone bed with the blanket stretched out beneath me. Motionless, I stare through the steel bars to the prisoners opposite me. For a moment, everything is static, at least until Stuart’s voice booms down the hall. The chubby guard towers over me impatiently. I don’t need to look up to know that with his cane high above his head he is looking to strike. I shrink away.
“Look at that, you’re such a scaredy cat. A real man would fight back!” he yells with a smirk creeping across his face. “Dinners best before it goes stale Mackey.”
The clash of metal on the stone floor rings through my ears, echoing Stuart’s chortle. The smell of stale bread and foul chicken fills my enclosure, drifting off to the other inmates. Disgust fills my mouth instantly and it will not go away. I know that no matter what, the mix will stain the back of my throat.
I stagger slowly back to the isolated bed. I drop my head and watch the world, eyes unblinking, and unfocused as others like me follow my lead.
The hand strangling the scruff of my neck awakens me instantly. I find myself squirming, trying to free myself, but I am far too weak. The hand yanks me backwards, and drags me along the floor, leaving me helpless and crying as I slide into another cage without time to defend myself.
“Keep it moving Mackey, the cars outside!” Stuart yells with his evil laugh.
As the realisation of the events consume me, my heart sinks and the breaths become harder to take. My own muscles have betrayed me, just like everything else in my life. Nevertheless, I keep moving forward. Anywhere is better than this metal hell.
“Mackey! Come here boy!” a high-pitched voice calls from the rear of the car.
One moment, I am frozen, and then I remember flying and leaping through the air. The door flies open and I land safely on a soft cushion next to the brunette girl waiting eagerly. She reaches out to caress me and I scramble backwards revealing my sharp teeth and stubborn growl. Her hands retreat in a second.
“It’s okay Mackey. You are safe now.” The girl looks at me, her bright eyes focused on mine and there is not a mean grin or raised cane to follow.
I’m left alone, staring as the girl leaves me in silence. I stare in amazement at the red farmhouse, surrounded by trees and rivers, in the shade of a big willow tree. I take a leap of faith and bolt towards the girl on the porch, leaping into her lap. She stares at me shaking her head, smiling from ear to ear.
“You are safe here now, they cannot hurt you anymore,” she reassures me as she places a small blue collar around my neck.
The choking sensation arises and I wait to be hauled back, but I don’t, not this time anyway.