How long has it been? Since those doors opened? Since my life wasn't so utterly simple and as bland as my gray scales? I can't remember. Everyday I'm slammed into a wall of disappointment the moment I open my eyes.
My dreams are my only interest or excitement in my life. Sometimes I dream I'm running through a large enclosure, except this enclosure has no walls and I can run forever. Sometimes I'm running with my sister, calling out to her when she leaves my sight. Sometimes me and my sister end up playfully wrestling. Sometimes we fight to the death. While I'm awake my life is utterly miserable. No enrichment. Nothing new.
I even starve myself occasionally to make my daily meals more interesting. I can hear many things moving out there... Mainly birds calling to each other. Sometimes they perch in the trees in my enclosure, giving me limited company. And then they fly away, taunting me with their freedom. I return to the side of my enclosure where there is a sort of clear wall. My head only barely skims the bottom of the clear wall. I wonder how strong it is.
But I'm not tall enough to reach it yet. Yet... But I can sense things there, their warmth a glowing mixture of reds and yellows and oranges. They are just like the creatures that inspected my sister after I bested her. One of them is there most of the day. He rarely moves.
Just sits there, lazy and unmotivated. The other only occasionally comes to see me. She stands there, her posture straight and precise, a bit stiff but at the same time somewhat elegant. At first I thought of it as unnerving, but now I barely bat an eye when she comes around.
The lazy blob of warmth is still there, seeming to be sloppily eating something. The smacking noise he makes as he takes bites annoys me enough to make me growl. He stops chewing and his food and looks at me. I can't really tell what he's thinking. Is he scared of my growl? Or is he amused at how I'm barely tall enough to see him from here?
Turns out it's neither. He simply shrugs and continues eating. I snort and walk away. Those things... They put me here... I'll get out one day. I look up as a bird soars high above me in a circle. It lets out a screech. I watch it until it escapes my line of sight. I growl again, and then roar a promise to the sky. I will get out of here. No matter what it takes. I'll tear down these walls if I have to. I'll climb. I'll dig. I will be free.