It was a warm, summer's day. The sun was shining, the grass was green, and a nice breeze was blowing.
"Sally!" My giant called.
I went inside where I was taken to a new room in my giants' nest. It was quite smaller than some of the other rooms, but it had a lot of peculiar things. First, there was this white contraption with water inside; it kind of looked like a huge water bowl. When I tried to take a drink, my giant stopped me and spoke in that weird voice; it sounded like a mixture of fear and anger. The contraption also made this weird noise whenever my giant pushed something at the top. It made all the water inside disappear down a hole, but then new water appeared afterwards.
I wanted to keep investigating, but my giant ushered me towards something even weirder. It was also white, but it was a lot bigger than the first contraption. It was low enough for me to see inside without getting on my back legs. Suddenly, my giant picked me up and put me inside of it. At first, I was a bit scared and tried to stop my toes from touching the floor, but eventually I gave in. This floor was very different from the one I was just on; it was hard and smooth while the other one was soft and bumpy. This new floor was also very slippery; it was difficult for me to stay balanced.
The next thing I knew, my giant was turning some object at the end of the contraption. It was silver and attached to a bigger silver thing. Suddenly, water jetted out of the big silver thing and started to fill the contraption. It was very loud and caused me to let out a yip of surprise. As it started to fill the contraption, my feet were finally submerged. This water however was a lot more pleasant; it was warmer than the kind outside that came through the green tube.
By the time my giant stopped the water it was up to my belly, which was a bit uncomfortable. As I squirmed around, my giant suddenly attacked me with a weird-looking object. I let out another yip of surprise as the object was pressed against my fur. Apparently, there was also a sticky liquid that caused foam to gather everywhere my giant moved the object. After a while, the movement felt very relaxing and I stopped squirming. As my giant stood and grabbed something else, my fur was stuck to my skin and white foam had appeared everywhere.
As I looked up, I noticed that my giant was holding another silver thing. It was attached to a long silver tube that led to another one of those silver-turning-thingies. Water blasted from it as well and my giant rinsed me with it until all the foam went away. Finally, the water began to disappear after a hole appeared that I didn't notice before. My giant wrapped me in some white cloth and carried me back outside. After the entrance was shut, I finally got to play again.
After I shook off some leftover water and dug some more holes, my nose suddenly caught the scent of something. I immediately looked up and narrowed my eyes.
There he was. My worst enemy; Patches.
Patches knew he was on my territory. Almost every day I shout at him to leave, but he always reappears once more. I hate him so much; he thinks he's an alpha and owns every place he sets paw on. What makes me hate him even more is that he's able to outsmart his giant. Usually, his giant finds him and takes him back for breakfast, but by lunchtime he's able to find a way back out and come right back here. I've had enough of him, and today is the day I'm going to do something about it.
As I stood my ground, he wiggled his whiskers at me; taunting me as if I was too afraid to even approach him. I inhaled deeply and did one of my best growls yet. I bared my teeth at him and finally gunned it.
As I dashed at him and continued to growl, I saw his amber eyes widen in fear. Right before I could tackle him, he jumped out of the way with his scrawny yet agile legs. He started to retreat back to his giant's home, but I couldn't let that happen. I chased him, and easily beat him before he could reach his giant's entrance. He jumped, spun in mid-air, and started to run the opposite direction. I continued to chase him, determined to end this once and for all.
He continued to run down the grey, hard path my giants' nest was on until he darted to the left and moved onto a different one. In the past, I would've stopped and went back home, but today I wanted to chase him straight out of the area.
I could've easily done that if it wasn't for what happened next.
Right as we turned onto the next path, a Monster appeared out of nowhere. It roared horribly loud and stopped right before it hit the two of us. Me and Patches were both too scared to continue running and stared up at the horrible beast. Its yellow eyes glared at us as two strange giants came out of it. They were wearing tan cloth and holding long sticks with string knotted up at the end to form a container.
They approached closer and looked at Patches. At first, I thought they were going to take him back to his giant, but then they looked at me. I stared at them, totally clueless.
Looking back, I wished I would've just bolted, but now it's too late.
The giants suddenly swung their sticks at me and trapped me in the string. Patches bolted while they took me to the back of the Monster and opened its stomach. They
shoved me inside and got in the front of it.
As the Monster hummed down the path, I sat there, furious. Why did they capture me and not Patches!? Then a thought stuck me; Patches was wearing his giants' identity strap. I looked down at my own neck and was surprised to see nothing there. Then I remembered what happened; my giant didn't put my identity strap back on before I went outside. As flattened my ears as the Monster traveled down the maze of paths for hours.
By the time the Monster finally stopped and went to sleep, I was starving. The two giants got out and opened its stomach. Before I could even think to jump, they trapped me with their sticks again. They carried me to a nest that was bigger than any I've ever seen.
Inside, I was blinded by the brightness and the overwhelming amount of sounds. By the time my eyes were adjusted, the giants suddenly dropped and shoved me into a tiny container. It suddenly became night again, and the two giants left. For what seemed like hours, I shouted into the dark for them to come back. After I wore out my voice, I curled up and tried to sleep. That whole night I stayed in that room; all alone; in the dark; my stomach growling 'till dawn.
The next morning, I awoke to a start with a loud crash. The same two giants entered the room and approached my container. One of them held a strange object in their hand which they used to open it. Before I could do anything, the other grabbed me roughly by the scruff and carried me out.
In a few moments, the giants opened the entrance to a new room. I was shocked to see that it was full of creatures like me. Without even crouching down, the giant threw me to the ground where I barely managed to land properly. Both of them quickly shut the entrance and left.
With my stomach still growling, I immediately scanned the new place. On one side of the room were containers similar to the one I was in, but with openings at the front. On the other side were rows of bowls, kind of like mine at home. I quickly scurried over to them and looked inside. They were full of food, but not like anything I've eaten before. The food looked very dry and plain in color. A bit wary, I lowered my noise and sniffed it; it had no scent. With another grumble from my stomach, I finally decided to eat it. It had no taste, and it felt very chewy and lumpy. I gobbled down the entire bowl within seconds, along with a few laps of water.
After my stomach was satisfied, my first goal was to figure where I was. I turned away from the bowls and looked at who I was sharing the room with. Apparently, none of them even noticed my presence, so I decided to walk up to one of them myself. As I got closer, I suddenly realized how much bigger I was compared to most of them.
"Umm excuse me, do you know what place this is?" I asked the first one that made eye contact with me.
Instead of an answer, all I got was gibberish along with some yips. Before I could even respond or ask something else, she turned back around and kept chewing on whatever was on the floor.
I let out a heavy sigh; all of them were too young to even understand what I was saying. Not knowing what else to do, I decided to go and try to claim an unoccupied container to sleep in.
That was when I met my soon-to-be best friend.
Someone much older than me was lying in a container in the corner of the wall. I eagerly padded over to him; I needed answers. As I got closer, I slowed down; his head was facing the opposite direction, so I couldn't tell if he was asleep or not. Right when I was about to poke him on the shoulder, he whipped up his head and turned around. I slightly jumped back, surprised.
"H-hello. I'm Sally...would you mind if I sat with you?" I asked a bit more timid than usual.
"...Well whaddya know. A whipper-snapper that can actually speak. Sure thing lil' lady, you can sit here with me. It's been a while since I had a real conversation with somebody. The name's Ol' John by the way." He spoke in a hoarse, slurry voice.
I slowly sat down in the container next to him. "Well Mr. John, I was hoping you could answer some questions for me. I just got here yesterday, and I have no idea where I am or why I'm here."
He chuckled slightly. "Well firstly Sally, you don't need to be so proper. Just call me Ol' John; I know I'm old, and I'm proud of it. As for your question, I don't know exactly what the name of this here place is, but I do know that it's for those of us who've been caught without a giant. You're probably here because you wandered too close to them giant-catchers, ain't that right?"
I slowly nodded. "Yes, I got caught by them, but this is all a huge mistake! I do have a giant! They just forgot to put on my identity strap before I went outside! How long do you think it'll take for them to come get me?"
Old John looked at me with a mixture of confusion and sadness. "Oh Sally, Sally, Sally, you apparently aren't familiar with places like these, are you? Listen youngin', once you get caught and put into here, there's no coming out unless you're chosen. Your giant isn't coming to get you. I know this may be hard to take in, but sometimes you just gotta accept your fate."
I refused to believe what he was saying. "No, no, no. My giant will come back! You don't know them like I do!"
"...Welp, I see that I can't change your mind. Perhaps you may be right, but in all my years here, I haven't seen a single giant come here and "reclaim" someone. The only giants that come are ones that are looking to choose one of us and start afresh. For now, how about I teach you how things are ran around here?"
I wasn't exactly keen on learning more about this place; I was going to be out of here very soon, but I didn't want to look rude, so I accepted anyway.
Now that I look back, I'm very glad I did.
Days went by as I stayed in that room and waited. Each day, I slowly got accustomed to the schedule the giants made us. Each time the entrance opened, I darted my head up, expecting to see my giant. Instead, it was always another giant refilling our bowls, giving out objects for "play," or turning the room into nighttime. By the time one month had gone by, I finally lost hope on my giant ever returning.
Without Old John to keep me company, I would've fell down a dark hole. In my lowest hour, he kept me going; making me go eat with him, attempting to "play" with the younger ones, and even staying up with me to tell stories. Old John had the most fascinating stories; his life was a lot more different from mine.
When Old John was younger, he apparently was part of a pack. He lived with others like him, traveling wherever and whenever they wanted, always outdoors. They didn't eat mush like they make us do here, they ate actual live food. They hunted; they were wild; they even had some sort of hierarchy. Old John was actually an alpha at one point, and not a fake one like Patches. He was a leader, an explorer, and a very brave fighter. I was shocked when he told me the stories behind his scars and wounds. His torn ear came from battling a badger. His limp in his right back leg came from rescuing one of his friends from a fox, and the scar down his left side came from his near-death in a forest fire. Old John was practically a legend!
However, all of that came to an end when the giant-catchers saw his pack hunting on the outskirts of the woods not too far from here. He sacrificed his freedom by letting the giant-catchers chase and capture him, giving the rest of the pack time to escape back into the woods. That was about 10 years ago.
While my stories weren't nearly as exciting as his, he seemed to be just as impressed in me. He was very intrigued when I told him the story behind my capture. He never expected someone like me, with a giant, to go off on their own and chase a cat as far as I did. He even said I would've been a good part of his pack if things were different.
The next day however, was when everything changed.
After breakfast, Old John beckoned me over to his corner.
"Listen Sally, I've got me an idea. It's very risky and danger is imminent, but if it works...we could get away from here."
I stared at him, dumbfounded. A few months ago, he'd told me to give up on getting out, but now it seemed as if he found some new hope. "I'm listening..."
He explained to me things I never knew about this place. The biggest news being that there were more rooms than this. He explained that back when he was first captured, there were many others his age that always seemed to start conflict and fight. When that happened, a giant would come into the room and take them away and separate them from everyone.
When they came back, they told Old John what they saw. Apparently, there was a carved hole in one of the rooms that was covered in a clear, but thick material. It was a bit high off the ground, but if someone managed to get up there, there was a platform and some sort of object that could make the clear material move out of the way. Another thing Old John told me was that there was an eye on the ceiling that I didn't see before. Apparently, the giants used it to see any conflict that arose. A small, red light would go off every time a fight happened, and a giant would appear moments later to take the fighters away. That eye would be the key to our plan.
If Old John and I could manage to get into that room, we could try and get out through that hole. That day, both of us stayed in that corner for hours trying to figure out a way to get there. By supper time, we had a pretty decent idea.
Tomorrow night, the two of us would break out into a fight. Of course it would be fake, but hopefully it would look realistic enough to set off the eye. When that happened, a giant would hopefully take us to that room and we could work our way out from there.
Unfortunately...that plan never happened.
That next morning, I was eating breakfast, stocking up on energy for our plan. Suddenly, Old John came hobbling towards me; it was the first time I've ever seen him move that fast.
"Corner. Now. Hurry."
Confused, I padded over there and sat down.
"...I had a dream, a very detailed dream. I haven't had a dream like this since I was in the pack. ...I think it's a vision." He said very quietly.
I stared at him, very confused. I barely understood what a vision was. If it was a dream, then why was it important right now? Was it a warning?
"W-what was it about?" I stuttered.
Old John had a very serious look on his face.
"You're going to meet another person like us; captured and wanting to get out. He's around your age by the looks of it, and has a limp in his right back leg, just like mine. You're going to help free him from this place, but then he's going to do something even bigger. ...He's going to free everybody from here."
I froze, not knowing what to say. "B-but I thought I was going to help you!? Tonight! Our plan! What about you!?"
He slowly shook his head. "...It wasn't meant to be." He said hoarsely.
Tears swelled up in my eyes. What was he saying!?
Suddenly, the entrance flew open and a giant entered the room. I looked up, shocked. Another giant wasn't supposed to come until lunchtime. This one was even looked different from the rest; it was wearing different cloth. It started towards the two of us, and it grabbed Old John by the scruff. It carried him out of the room just like that.
I ran after them. "Old John! Where are you going!?"
Right before the giant shut the entrance, I caught a glimpse of him. My fur stood on end at what I saw. In all the time I've been with Old John, I never saw him in this state.
His body was stiff and tense, full of fear. His eyes however...his eyes were glowing with hope.
Then the entrance closed.
I slept the rest of the day away, waiting for it to be tomorrow. Then tomorrow came, and I awaited the return of the giant with Old John. The usual giants with food and play objects came, but not him.
And so I waited day after day, month after month. I looked up every time a giant entered the room.
But Old John would never come back.
I knew it deep in my heart, but I refused to say it aloud. I fell down a dark hole after that. I almost never left the corner, only getting up when I absolutely had to eat. I would've continued to fall down the hole if it wasn't for what's happening now.
It has been 6 months since Old John was taken. The younger ones have come and went, but today someone different arrived.
He was brought in by container by a she-giant. I watched as he awkwardly crawled out.
He had a limp in his right back leg.
To Be Continued…