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In. 'Cause one's got a weasel and the other's got a flag
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Jan 2, 2020 03:46
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| # ¿ May 11, 2024 06:35 |
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Two Hundred and Nine 1253 WORDS → 'cause one's got a weasel and the other's got a flag It hurts. It all just hurts. The moment the tall, hairless human turns on the seering white lights is a new day of torture. I've been here—I look down at the steel cage beneath my paws—I've been here for six hundred and twelve days according to my claw marks. One of the longest standing captives in this joint. A badge of honor that has these humans talking. The ape in his blanc official coat wanders forward, casually gazing at what I'm sure he takes as his creations. His experiments that I'm sure he tells himself will be God's greatest gift to humanity or the cure for cancer or some horseshit that humans sell themselves to cover up for the ugly things they do. Day six hundred and thirteen begins just the same as the rest. White Coat makes his way to a separate room to the right. He goes in. He comes out with a clipboard. He approaches the holding area. He approaches me. Analyzes and jots down the stats that record to the screen on the front of my enclosure. Presses a button. I watch a green fluid flow from the top of the tube down and into my side where needles puncture my flesh. At first the fluid chills me, but then it begins to burn my intestines. I cry out for the eighth time this month as he continues to try and perfect his concoction. It is clear by his frown lines that my screaming is not the outcome he wanted today. "Subject seventy-three remains alive, injection unsuccessful. Proceeding with larger animal testing to see if mass is a factor," the man murmurs into a recorder before walking to a cage across the way. Ben the beagle still has his puppy fur. He looks up at White Coat with soft eyes as his white tail thumps happily on floor of the cage. I pity the poor pup. One day that tail will only lay grounded like a flag of surrender. Ben yips with excitement, getting tangled in his tubes and IV's when he tries to get the man to give him a dose of affection instead of poison. White Coat has the audacity to smile before pushing a similar button he pushed on my cage. It takes only moments for Ben to begin yelping loudly. He's gotten a much larger dose than I, he doesn't stop until he passes out. His small body quaking with his maw parted and tongue hanging out. I pray coldly that today is his last day so that he may no longer suffer. "Subject four hundred and eight, status—unconscious with seizures," he says, proceeding down a line of cages. Howls and whimpers echo in the lab even after the lights have gone out. I close my eyes. — "Why do they hurt us?" Ben asks—his face has grown and he's filled in his paws—but his eyes have gone dim. There is no longer any puppy joy in them. I cock my head, flick my ears. "Because they can." Ben wrinkles his nose in disgust at my answer. Our life may have been good once. May have been filled with forests or plush beds. But now it is naught but steel cages and volatile substances that may or may not kill us on any given day. I can't fathom what the humans do to their own kind. I don't think it's truly much better than what they do to us, especially those who differ from the norm. "We need to get out of here." I don't know why I say it. I don't believe it's possible; however, I dream of better things for Ben. I know I will never have a hearth and a home after all this. But I want Ben to. He's been a silver lining ever since the night he woke up from the seizure that wracked his entire body. "You've said countless times that hope of escape is dangerous, Seventy-Three." I nod, Ben is correct I have said that. I've said that many, many times. I know who, and what comes for me. "Perhaps the fear of hope is what makes things impossible. You and I, we should be dead. The other's are. Maybe that has to mean something," I say it with as much endearment I can. I have been harsh on the kids hope. It will take kindling to bring any of it back. Ben squints at me looking to see if I'm serious or just mocking him like I did when he was a pup. He sees that for once, I mean it. "When? How? They're always watching." I've contemplated it all. The tests—the experiments—if they've done anything they've made me far more intelligent than I once was. I've heard the humans hushed whispers. There's something happening. Their operation has been discovered, any day now they mean to exterminate I and Ben. Erase evidence of their cruelty. Erase us. "I can chew through my bars, Ben. I can unlatch you." Ben looks horrified. For good reason too. "Sam and Weedrun died that way! You know they've poisoned the metals," Ben growls. I nod, well aware. "Ben, my natural life is nearly over. You are not even three-hundred and sixty-five days old." He shakes his head, ears flopping. "Don't be a child," I snap. I didn't need his permission. I bit down on the metal. I gnawed and pulled with all my might, blood filling my mouth and dripping down my chest. "Seventy-Three, no! Please, stop!" Ben cries. His paws slamming on the grates of his cage. The toxins from the mental bars taste foul and burn my mouth. Everything in me screams for me to stop. But I refused to listen to whatever natural instincts I had left. Eventually my head broke through the cage and then my body. For the first time in eight hundred and twenty two days, I was free. Free. I pushed myself forward, standing on my hind legs I grappled for Ben's cage. My maw wrapped around the latch of his cage and pulled. A click sounded and the door swung open. Ben ran to me, licking the blood off my face. Tears streaked his face as I collapsed. "Ben, Ben! This is no time for tears. You have to get out of here. Through that door. Turn right, right. There's a dog door that Saige the guard dog uses when he's on watch for human holidays," I manage to get out. Ben nods, it shocks me when I feel his teeth bite into the nape of my neck. He is carrying me. We go right. Right. Through the dog door. Surprisingly easy, but to be fair this is a botched lab. I'm growing tired and my limbs feel funny when Ben finally lays me down. We're in the mountains, my old home. I can smell the moss and the trees. The river runs close by. Dusk is soon approaching bathing the clearing in a bluish haze. I fade, fade, fade. Before I do I see what I have wanted to see one last time since I last saw it two hundred and nine days ago. Ben's white tail finally wags again, his nose flares as he takes in more than the somber tinge of death and alcohol for the first time in his life. I pray warmly he will have many days, I pray he finds a happy home. "Do you see all this, Seventy-Three?" I close my eyes.
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Jan 6, 2020 03:23
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Mar 27, 2020 20:16
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Little Human, Big Tiger ➞ Words: 868 From behind the wooden bars, a tiger peered at Elle. It's amber eyes flickering like flame as it followed each one of her steps. This was the beast Elle would have to oversee and study if she wished to successfully kill. It was her clans sacred tradition, the princess would have to kill her first tiger before her eighteenth birthday to become queen. Her mother and grandmother had done so long ago, now it was her turn. Machali let out a snarl, her gaping maw revealing teeth that begged to wrap around Elle's skull. The tigress was one of the largest she had ever seen. Stories, murmurs had been whispered about the man-eating Machali for years. She was rumored to have taken out an entire village, bodies ravaged. Wind howled, causing Elle to shiver. She approached the barrier of the cage. She narrowed her eyes, taking in Machali's beauty and strength. "Ah, another human to taunt and jeer at the tiger. How noble," Machali spat. Her ears pinned to her skull. Elle fell backwards, her palms grappling with dirt as she shoved away from the cage. "W--w-hat the? No, no there's no way. Elle, get it together." Elle peered at the tiger, dumbstruck by its ability to speak. Machali's eyes widened realization of something dawning on her face. "You? You're the chosen one? But.. you're so little." Machali muttered, her paws splaying against the bars. "How are you supposed to save us? You're one of them." "You can speak! But how is that possible?" Elle inquired, now keeping a safe distance from the cage. It must be some wizardry, something evil. Her mother, nor grandmother ever mentioned speaking tigers. "You can merely understand me, small human. It is said that one day a creature with the gift of comprehension will save the tigers of India. Granted, I never believed it could be man," the last word was spoken with a curl of Machali's lip. "This cannot be. I am to kill you, it is my destiny. If I am to become queen, it must be done..." Elle trailed off. How was she supposed to kill this beast? It all seemed so wrong. Machali let out some semblance of a laugh, "Oh, you can try little one. I do not recommend it. You've heard the whispers, no?" "Man Killer, it's been whispered of you for years. It's why I must rid you of our land," she said. "I have never killed man unprovoked or unharmed, know that before you justify the idea of killing me, human." Elle peered closer at the tigress. Scars riddled her entire body, beneath her beauty was terror. A terror that made Elle sickly aware of what her people have done to tigers for years. Even the cubs were never spared. She stood, shaking the dust from her dress. Perhaps she could do things differently, but if she were to do anything she had to act fast. Her birthday was tomorrow, the ceremony only hours away. "Machali, I don't know what I can do for your kind. But I can start by saving you." Elle stuck her hand out, asking for permission to touch the tigress. Machali blinked, evaluating the situation. Slowly she stepped forward allowing her head to rest in the princesses hand. "Do you mean it, little one?" Her question hung in the air. The answer was quick. "With all my heart," Elle stated, her mind made up she jostled with a chain of keys hanging on her belt loop. Stepping forth she inserted the key and turned it into the rusted lock. With a groan the door to the enclosure swung open. Machali snuffed and paced the opening to her chance for freedom. She stepped through and out of the cage. What she did next shocked Elle. The mighty cat of the jungle kneeled, doing her best impression of a bow. "Little Human, you are a Queen of a new age. Come with me, I can protect you. You can lead a new beginning for man and tiger," Machali declared. Elle knelt down beside the tigress, her hand coming to rest atop her head. Daringly so, she stroked the tigers ears. Marveling how soft her fur was. Shuddering at the thought of how her home was littered with many tiger pelts used as rugs. "I will come, but Machali, we start a new dawn tomorrow. There will be change," Elle said. From her bag, Elle presented Michali with meat. A offering. Michali accepted, her whiskers twitching with appreciation. Somewhere, a bell rolled. The gathering bell, a signal for the clan to assemble. Michali lowered herself to the ground further, "Come! Get on, we haven't much time!" She roared. Elle looked back uncertain, but steeled herself and her heart from any doubt. Gently she maneuvered her body onto Machali much like that of a horse. Machali threw herself forward, heading towards the jungle. Just as dawn broke, they reached their destination. The jungle loomed ahead of them, no scent of campfire or cages were present. Elle would change the fate of tigers and humans. Even if it took years. There would no longer be terror for the striped beasts of India, only beauty.
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Mar 30, 2020 04:48
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