Prologue
He ran. He wanted to run from all of it and to just hide somewhere, forever. But he continued to chase after the person he now despised and hated with all of his heart. He didn't see where he was going. He only trained his eyes on the back of the man he so desperately wanted to kill right now.
How could he betray him!? How could he do this to him!? He could see the person in front of him starting to slow down, and he sped up even more, cracking his knuckles in the process.
This was his chance to take him down! His life was his! He could not simply believe that he could betray him and think he was going to get away with it! His best friend and rival…
He was so close…he sped up even more, preparing to take down the person with all his strength and brute force…but he didn't see that the person he was about to kill stood in front of a cliff…and stepped out of the way right when he was going to attack him…
The last thing he saw was the ocean, a mile beneath him.
Chapter 1
The first thing he saw was his mother. After the many weeks of darkness, he could open finally his eyes and see the light. It hurt his eyes at first, but then he soon adjusted, and the world was amazing.
He was the most curious of his brothers and sisters as they all slowly started to grow up. His brothers and sisters stayed close to their mother, keeping themselves warm and safe, but he would stray from them and go out to the edge of the alley, watching the magnificent creatures walk on two legs.
His mother would bark at him to come back to her side at once, and she would always scold him, telling him the world was not as amazing as he thought it was. It was a cruel and dangerous place, and he could get killed if he strayed too far.
But he didn't care. Something was calling to him, in the back of his mind, and he wanted to go. He wanted to investigate, but his mother held a tight hold over him, making sure he was always at her side.
Every now and then, a grotesque two-legged creature would come out from a door and drop food for him and his family. His mother told him they were called 'man'; humans who were not so kind to them. But this man was kind. He always gave them food and water at the back of the alley, as well as a nice bed.
He immediately liked this man. He would play with him sometimes, and give him things to chew on. His mother would warn him not to get too attached to this man, but he couldn't help it. Man was so interesting, and his curiosity always won the best of him.
But all tragedy struck. One day, when his mother wasn't looking, he walked a little too far out of the dark alley and on to the side walk. He was bigger now, and he thought he could now take care of himself and not have his mother nagging at him all the time. And as he walked a little further, his mother caught sight of him and barked...but it was too late.
A rope, out of nowhere, descended upon his neck, and it tightened, almost making him choke. He yipped and cried, and he could see his mother immediately coming to his rescue. She growled and barked at the imposters, but it was also too late…they put another rope around her neck and they pulled her in to a strange contraption.
His brothers and sisters followed their mother, and they too were captured. He screamed and cried, as well as his family, but their cries did nothing of the sort. They were all put on a strange animal with four wheels instead of four legs, and the darkness soon descended upon all of them as man closed the doors tightly shut.
He and his family were scared, but his mother hushed their cries, telling them that everything was going to be alright. He could tell, by the smell of her, that she was lying, and that she too was very afraid.
The animal they were put on was called a vehicle, his mother explained to them. A car. Man used it to get around and to take things places. And the contraption they were in was called a cage; to trap things like us in them. He asked where they were going, but his mother did not answer him.
Suddenly, the car stopped. The doors opened after a moment, and they were carried, in their cages, inside a building. A deafening sound filled his ears once he and his family entered the building. He winced and cried, almost peeing himself. He was extremely scared, and he huddled up next to his sisters and brothers.
There must have been millions of dogs, just like them, and they were all barking, growling, and yipping at them. He scrunched back a little further in the cage with his brothers and sisters. They all so desperately wanted to be with their mother.
Sadly, they were all put in to separate cages, or 'kennels', like his mother explained to them once he and his brothers and sisters all settled down. He was more than happy that he was in the kennel next to his mother, and she licked him through the bars, telling him that everything was going to be alright, yet again.
He didn't believe her. Like before, he could smell her fear, and her lie. He was the most scared out of all of his brothers and sisters. Couldn't they smell their mothers fear? Her lie?
He was up all night, barking and crying. He wanted to be out of here, to be outside, to see the light again. His mother tried to hush him, but no matter what she did, he couldn't shut up. He barked and he cried. He tried to gnaw his way out of the bars, but it was no use.
He was the only one barking now. Some dogs would growl at him, telling him to shut up, but he couldn't. He barked all night and in to the next day. His throat hurt to the extreme, and he started to become hoarse, but he kept barking and barking. He refused to shut up until he saw the light again.
Suddenly, a man came by his kennel and kicked it. The loud noise startled him, but that just made him bark even worse. His mother was becoming extremely angry with him, but he refused to give in. He barked and he barked, until finally, one of the two-legs opened his cage.
They grabbed him by the scruff of the neck roughly, making him cry out. The man looked him straight in the eye angrily, and he knew, at that moment, he did not like this man. But fear took the best of him and he began to pee all over the grotesque man's weird fur, or "clothes", like his mother explained to him once before.
His pee took the man by surprise, and he saw his opportunity. He bit down, hard, on to the man's scrubby paws, and the man released him with a yelp. He landed on his back, but he quickly recovered and started to run for his life.
He could hear the man yell, and he heard other's shout, as well. But he continued to run over the slippery floor, even though he didn't know where he was going. He was literally running in circles.
He came by his mother's cage again and stopped. She barked at him, telling him to keep running. He didn't want to leave without her, he loved her very much, but she growled and snapped at him through the bars. When the men started to charge him from around the corner, he finally took his mothers advice and started to run, yet again.
From the corner of his eye, he saw a light. It was the light! One of the men opened the door from the building, and he ran right towards the light. He went through the man's two legs, and he hit home. He was free!
But he didn't stop running. He heard shouts from behind him and he could hear his mother's barks, as well. She demanded that he keep running, and to never look back. And so he did what she told him to do. He ran right through the road, almost getting hit by cars in the process, and out in to an open field. He ran and he ran until he could run no more.
It was dark when he finally stopped running. He was in a strange place, and many men were there. They were cold and frail; skinny and weak. He continued to walk right past them, panting heavily. He could feel his limbs start to give out, and his sight started to become blurry. Suddenly, his whole body went numb and he hit the cold ground, hard.
He heard, faintly, footsteps coming towards him. The last thing he saw was a strange two-legged, kneeling down in front of him, reaching out to cradle his broken form.
