Hungry

Dead.
Why would you want him dead?
What would you do with him?

Chopping knives... Blood... Crushing bones...

That's all I see, it's all I hear...

      Tears rush down my face as I witness my friends being shoved into a queue, leading to a bloody chopping board. I starred in disbelief when the men roughly grabbed them and carved deeply into their skin, ignoring their cries of pain. No mercy was given, not even a tinge of sympathy. No matter how cute they looked, no matter how much they puppy-eyed.

No matter what, your fate... is the chopping board.

   With teary eyes, I watched the now skinned dog being yanked by a man towards a towering pot. Its blood dripped endlessly as it made a trail along the ground. The man roughly threw the bloody mass into an exhausted womans hands. She wiped a grimy cloth over the body, attempting to clean it.

"Damn! All the bread is gone! If this continues, we'll all starve, mate. Chuck in another dog!"

     Before long, another soldier arrives. He examines the whole pack of us carefully, checking for any blemishes and comparing our filth.

We all sat still. Pretending to look sick or disheveled in any way.

No one wanted to be next in line...

     His hands start to reach to the quivering figure beside me, also one of my friends. But at the last minute, diverted his direction and picked me instead.

Nauseousness immediately filled me.

As his greasy fingers advanced to me, something caught the corner of my eye.

It was a small child, hugging a limp soft toy.

I caught a glimpse of fear and curiosity in her eyes. They bore into mine, searching for nothing in particular. For a slight moment, my hazardous situation was forgotten. After a while more of staring, she smiled and waved. Tilting my head, I wondered why she did that...

There was a deafening crack and after the sickly sound of breaking bones echos throughout the air, all becomes silent. Startled, I whipped around and witnessed, what used to be my friend, torn into pieces. At that, I realised what my fate was, and why that girl waved.
      My friends started to mourn, for they knew that I wasn't going to be coming back. A few of them started to lick my fur, kissing me good byes.
       Anger rose within me, as I thought of how inhumane humans were these days. How can they disregard life, for the sake of their own needs? What needs are those anyway? Greed? Pleasure?

       I quickly snapped back to reality and barred my teeth at the man. He was taken aback, unprepared for this unanticipated reaction. Past victims have just let him take them, accepting their fate...

      Without wasting time, I grabbed this opportunity to flee away from this hell on earth. Swiftly, I dodged his meaty hands and dashed between his legs. As I made my way towards the exit, the man started searching for his hand pistol in frustration. With all my strength, I dug under the fence as quickly as I could. After much digging, a huge hole was evident, inviting me to crawl in. In a blink of an eye, I dived through it and sprinted away aimlessly.

Freedom... ?

FREEDOM~~~!!!

     I erupted in happiness, no longer having the fear of being chopped and crushed into pieces. I suddenly remembered my friends, how they were still in danger. However, I urged myself to go on, knowing that I didn't have to capability to rescue the others.

    After what seemed like an eternity I plopped down on the pavement, succumbing to fatigue...