A Rough Fifth
L&O
MissTexan9821
With his drooping eyes and sagging skin, the pup in the cage didn't have a chance of being taken home. His tail stopped wagging weeks ago and he had a look of "if you touch me, I might break" about him. No bones, toys, or friends, and four inescapable walls. Serena took instant pity. She could appreciate his position: the repetitiveness, the loneliness, those four insurmountable walls.
It wasn't that she didn't love her job at the DA's office. It wasn't by any means boring; she set bail for, and sometimes remanded, murderers, burglars, serial killers and the occasional sociopath run amok, what could be more rewarding than that? And it certainly wasn't Jack McCoy. He was a wonderful man, an excellent man, an intelligent man. 'Don't forget his high conviction rate,' Serena told herself.
She glanced at the pup again. He had fallen asleep on a ratty square of carpet; his left ear flopped over his eye. No, it wasn't any of that. It was the walled world she was living in. Her predecessors had set unequivocal standards and had bonded incredibly well, and seemingly instantly, with Jack. Most days, she considered herself a rough 5th-- Claire, Jamie and Abbie filling the top three prestigious spots and those defense attorneys, Jessica Sheets and Shelley Kates, vying for fourth.
The walls were all Serena knew; they kept her in check.
They kept her from being the outstanding ADA she knew she could be, from having an airtight relationship with Jack, and from seeing her endless horizons. Her walls were just high enough that when she peered over, all she could make out were the tops of the next set. Past those walls, she saw in black and white; color would allow for details and expansion, both of which were too much to ask for.
'One day,' she mumbled quietly, 'I'll take down those walls stone by stone and rebuild them lower. That way, whoever is appointed when I leave, can fill a size 6 shoe instead of a size 10. That way, above the sky is the limit and beyond the horizon is where they set their goals.' She made a promise to herself that she would let no wall be too high to climb and no wall seem too real to break down.
The pup was fast asleep. "One day," she gently told him. "One day."
With his drooping eyes and sagging skin, the pup in the cage didn't have a chance of being taken home. His tail stopped wagging weeks ago and he had a look of "if you touch me, I might break" about him. No bones, toys, or friends, and four inescapable walls. Serena took instant pity. She could appreciate his position: the repetitiveness, the loneliness, those four insurmountable walls.
It wasn't that she didn't love her job at the DA's office. It wasn't by any means boring; she set bail for, and sometimes remanded, murderers, burglars, serial killers and the occasional sociopath run amok, what could be more rewarding than that? And it certainly wasn't Jack McCoy. He was a wonderful man, an excellent man, an intelligent man. 'Don't forget his high conviction rate,' Serena told herself.
She glanced at the pup again. He had fallen asleep on a ratty square of carpet; his left ear flopped over his eye. No, it wasn't any of that. It was the walled world she was living in. Her predecessors had set unequivocal standards and had bonded incredibly well, and seemingly instantly, with Jack. Most days, she considered herself a rough 5th-- Claire, Jamie and Abbie filling the top three prestigious spots and those defense attorneys, Jessica Sheets and Shelley Kates, vying for fourth.
The walls were all Serena knew; they kept her in check.
They kept her from being the outstanding ADA she knew she could be, from having an airtight relationship with Jack, and from seeing her endless horizons. Her walls were just high enough that when she peered over, all she could make out were the tops of the next set. Past those walls, she saw in black and white; color would allow for details and expansion, both of which were too much to ask for.
'One day,' she mumbled quietly, 'I'll take down those walls stone by stone and rebuild them lower. That way, whoever is appointed when I leave, can fill a size 6 shoe instead of a size 10. That way, above the sky is the limit and beyond the horizon is where they set their goals.' She made a promise to herself that she would let no wall be too high to climb and no wall seem too real to break down.
The pup was fast asleep. "One day," she gently told him. "One day."
