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carol_klavon
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Post by carol_klavon »

My earliest memory was that of my mother—and my siblings, who constantly fought for the best place at the dinner table. I was blind and could barely crawl, but I was the toughest pup in the litter. I always found the best spot, and got the most to eat. When my eyes finally opened, and my legs got longer, I showed my brothers and sisters who the alpha was in this pack. Up until then, the humans who lived in the house with all of us ignored our activities. But one day, the New People came. I didn’t like their smell at all. I didn’t know what the smell was at first—I just knew I didn’t like it. After they took me though, I learned it quickly. I learned punishment. I learned pain. And I learned loneliness. My training began right away.

In a small, dark building, they put me in a small enclosure with this absolutely gorgeous female. But before I could give the customary face-and-butt-sniff greeting, they dragged me forward, forcing my jaws open & around her soft neck. What were they doing? I didn’t understand, and I felt a sharp pain in my ribs from someone kicking me. Again they pulled. Again I balked. Again they kicked. Eventually, I learned what they wanted from me, but even when I was a good boy, they’d still hurt me. I was angry, but I was too frightened to bite them. So I channeled that anger on the only other living thing I could. The other dogs…
Two years later

I stood at the edge of the circle, surrounded by a ring of men, all shouting and waving pieces of paper. Directly across from me, was my enemy—the other dog. Our chains were loosed simultaneously. I leapt through the air as I had so many times before. Success! My teeth sank into his right cheek, almost ripping out his eye. His painful yelp only spurned me on. He managed to bite my right hind flank, but I didn’t feel it. I was covered with the scars of many battles—I was a professional now. We bared our teeth at each other, growling. But he was afraid. I could smell his fear. That was when I knew I had him. Suddenly, there is a commotion, and strange men burst into the room—they are carrying guns and clubs, covered with protective gear. My masters are being beaten by these men, as my masters had done to me so many times—and I suddenly snapped at the tallest of them then, my teeth sinking into the legs of his baggy pants, into the soft flesh beneath. Ah, the thrill of his scream! The taste of his blood…so sweet! Then, there was a sharp pain in my side, and then everything went black.

When I woke up, nothing around me was familiar. Hard cement walls surrounded me on three sides, with a chain link door in front of me. I saw another dog directly across from me, in a similar enclosure—a scraggly, wire-haired mutt half my size. I can take him, I thought. The pungent odor of many strange dogs filled my nostrils. But it wasn’t like before. People walked back and forth, and without thought, I began barking and snarling at them. The smell of fear was there. I am Alpha! I am Alpha! I screamed at them over and over again. They were afraid of me, but there was one who wasn’t. She had appeared one day, just out of reach, never saying a word—only sitting there and looking at me. I snarled. I growled. I barked. Still no fear. She just sat there, looking at me, her hand just out of reach. There is a different smell coming from her…it is familiar but I can’t quite place it. I lunged at her, without thinking, but the door remained between us—securely fastened. Her eyes were large and sad—and I realized the new smell was coming from her. Then I did something I never did before—I backed into the corner. I knew what was wrong. She wasn’t afraid. It worried me, and I was confused, uncertain of my next move. Every day it was the same. All the others gave me a wide berth, I barked at them, and that was that. But she just looked at me and sat just far enough away that my teeth couldn’t reach her soft, tasty flesh.

Then the dreams started. I began to remember the warmth of my mother’s body—the sweet milk filling my belly. I am Alpha. I am Alpha. Then the struggle for the best seat at the table became a fight to the death, and again, I was in the ring, men all around—shouting for blood. I awakened with a yelp, the nightmare evaporating in the light of day. And she was there again, sitting close to the door. I remembered why she was so familiar. I began to crawl on my belly to her, my ears down, just as I had done as a puppy. My body quivered with happy excitement, and my tail was…wagging? Yes it was! I remembered her—the little girl who lived in my first house with me. Though I had never seen her, I had caught whiffs of her scent. I began licking the air with sheer joy. Somehow, she had found me, and we would never be separated again. She was going to be my new forever home…


THE END
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DATo
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Post by DATo »

Very nice! Of course animals do not think in words or articulate them, but you managed to capture and convey well that which we can only assume from observation are the "emotions" and "thoughts" of an animal. I don't believe I have ever come across a story quite like this on this website before so thanks for presenting a new and interesting example of how creative the approach to story writing can be.

Thanks for sharing your talent with us. I enjoyed this story very much!
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versetab
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Post by versetab »

Thanks for sharing. Really nice short story.
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Post by Lincoln »

versetab wrote:Thanks for sharing. Really nice short story.
I agree, thanks for sharing this! It works well!
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Galvin pulk
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Post by Galvin pulk »

i love that story, thanks for sharing us
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Post by mukuru »

carol_klavon wrote:My earliest memory was that of my mother—and my siblings, who constantly fought for the best place at the dinner table. I was blind and could barely crawl, but I was the toughest pup in the litter. I always found the best spot, and got the most to eat. When my eyes finally opened, and my legs got longer, I showed my brothers and sisters who the alpha was in this pack. Up until then, the humans who lived in the house with all of us ignored our activities. But one day, the New People came. I didn’t like their smell at all. I didn’t know what the smell was at first—I just knew I didn’t like it. After they took me though, I learned it quickly. I learned; punishment, pain and loneliness. :lol: My training began right away.

In a small, dark building, they put me in a small enclosure with this absolutely gorgeous female. But before I could give the customary face-and-butt-sniff greeting, they dragged me forward, forcing my jaws open & around her soft neck. What were they doing? I didn’t understand, and I felt a sharp pain in my ribs from someone kicking me. Again they pulled. Again I balked. Again they kicked. Eventually, I learned what they wanted from me, but even when I was a good boy, they’d still hurt me. I was angry, but I was too frightened to bite them. So I channeled that anger on the only other living thing I could. The other dogs…
Two years later

I stood at the edge of the circle, surrounded by a ring of men, all shouting and waving pieces of paper. Directly across from me, was my enemy—the other dog. Our chains were loosed simultaneously. I leapt through the air as I had so many times before. Success! My teeth sank into his right cheek, almost ripping out his eye. His painful yelp only spurned me on. He managed to bite my right hind flank, but I didn’t feel it. I was covered with the scars of many battles—I was a professional now. We bared our teeth at each other, growling. But he was afraid. I could smell his fear. That was when I knew I had him. Suddenly, there is a commotion, and strange men burst into the room—they are carrying guns and clubs, covered with protective gear. My masters are being beaten by these men, as my masters had done to me so many times—and I suddenly snapped at the tallest of them then, my teeth sinking into the legs of his baggy pants, into the soft flesh beneath. Ah, the thrill of his scream! The taste of his blood…so sweet! Then, there was a sharp pain in my side, and then everything went black.

When I woke up, nothing around me was familiar. Hard cement walls surrounded me on three sides, with a chain link door in front of me. I saw another dog directly across from me, in a similar enclosure—a scraggly, wire-haired mutt half my size. I can take him, I thought. The pungent odor of many strange dogs filled my nostrils. But it wasn’t like before. People walked back and forth, and without thought, I began barking and snarling at them. The smell of fear was there. I am Alpha! I am Alpha! I screamed at them over and over again. They were afraid of me, but there was one who wasn’t. She had appeared one day, just out of reach, never saying a word—only sitting there and looking at me. I snarled. I growled. I barked. Still no fear. She just sat there, looking at me, her hand just out of reach. There is a different smell coming from her…it is familiar but I can’t quite place it. I lunged at her, without thinking, but the door remained between us—securely fastened. Her eyes were large and sad—and I realized the new smell was coming from her. Then I did something I never did before—I backed into the corner. I knew what was wrong. She wasn’t afraid. It worried me, and I was confused, uncertain of my next move. Every day it was the same. All the others gave me a wide berth, I barked at them, and that was that. But she just looked at me and sat just far enough away that my teeth couldn’t reach her soft, tasty flesh.

Then the dreams started. I began to remember the warmth of my mother’s body—the sweet milk filling my belly. I am Alpha. I am Alpha. Then the struggle for the best seat at the table became a fight to the death, and again, I was in the ring, men all around—shouting for blood. I awakened with a yelp, the nightmare evaporating in the light of day. And she was there again, sitting close to the door. I remembered why she was so familiar. I began to crawl on my belly to her, my ears down, just as I had done as a puppy. My body quivered with happy excitement, and my tail was…wagging? Yes it was! I remembered her—the little girl who lived in my first house with me. Though I had never seen her, I had caught whiffs of her scent. I began licking the air with sheer joy. Somehow, she had found me, and we would never be separated again. She was going to be my new forever home…


THE END
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Jeremie Mondejar
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Post by Jeremie Mondejar »

Nice story. In our home, all painful feeling is gone. You give the best smile in your entire life.
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TheSeelieCourtJester
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Post by TheSeelieCourtJester »

You broke my heart with this one. The personification of animals in literature and the arts is extremely popular, but I can't recall having seen something as realistic as this. The dog didn't ask to be in that situation; it just was. What really caused me to fall apart was how the girl came back, and realized what'd happened to the dog. Still, it was a nice ending, to just give the dog sweet memories, even if it was a little bitter in the end.
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Post by TheRavensWoods »

Wow! This story really knocked me back. I didn't expect such a deep and disturbing tale! Very good job giving a poor fighting dog human emotions and thoughts. I loved the happy ending! Thanks so much for sharing!
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