I smiled that my mother was looking down the pit. Maybe she would save me from this pit and this cruel place. I could go home or maybe live in the cabin in the woods. When I looked at my mother looking down at me, I forgot how hungry and cold I was and waited for mom to tell the evil people to let me out. I wondered if we could take Andrew with us. He deserved to have freedom as much as me.
None of this would happen. Mom looked down at me and was not smiling. She started talking to me in a stern voice, “It is time you accept who you are. For most of your life, you were a normal human boy, but then your true self manifested itself. When I came to this place and was inseminated and became pregnant, I was told that you would become more canine as the years went by. I did not want to believe in this. I wanted a child so much and took the chance. You are no longer human but a puppy.”
“You still love me?” I asked, “You have come to take me home?”
“No. You are owned by the institute. You are a puppy and will become more like a dog every day. In the end, you will not have any human trace in you, except how you look. You will think and act like a dog. The institute wants to protect you and give you a happy life. You belong here and the sooner you accept what you are, the happier you will be. You cannot come home. I cannot take care of your needs. Society will never accept you. Stop being stubborn and trust in the institution and its plans for you. You are not a boy, you are a puppy.
I asked mom if she loved me. She walked away from the pit without answering me.
I was taken back to my cell. I just curled myself in the corner and swayed back and forth. It was as if I was broken. This was not because of the pit. It was because I felt that my mother did not want me or love me. She allowed the institute to own me and decide what my future would be. How could a mother abandon her son? She gave birth to me and as she is human, that means I must be also human. Why could no one here see that I was a mutant.. part human and part puppy? As I said, I felt broken and there was nothing in the world to smile about. Did Dad feel the same about me, that I was just an animal and this is why he did not want to find me?
Another thing that worried me was when Mom said I would be less human as every day went by. This could be the truth. The puppy girl and boy that were taken were like small puppies. Even Andrew no longer considered himself human anymore. The more I thought about it, the more I have accepted the dog side of me. There were even times when I forgot that I was a human. When this happened, it was only for a short time, but they were happening a lot more and for longer periods. What if mom was right, that I will end up just thinking and acting like a dog and forgetting my human side? What if my body changed more and I ended up looking like a dog?
Andrew could see that I was different since I came back from the pit. He did something that he had never done before. He told me that I reminded him that he was a human and a dog. I gave him hope. He was afraid that the pit subdued me and since I came back, I had been so quiet and just sat in the corner all the time. He asked me what did they do with me. Why was I like an empty shell? Then he pleaded that I should not give up. He reminded me that I once told him not to give up and now he was telling me the same.
It seems as if I did not listen to Andrew. I spent a few days feeling sorry for myself and mad at my parents. I did not notice I was changing. However looking back at it, I could see that I gave up and started to accept I was just a puppy. I did not think and to be honest I did not want to think. Acting and being a puppy was so much easier. I just ate and slept and played. The institution noticed this as well and started giving me rewards. I got a basket to sleep in as well as puppy toys. I thought that this would make me happy. Why fight something that I could not win? If everyone wanted me to be a puppy, then I would make the humans happy. It made me happy when the humans were pleased. I began to convince myself that being a puppy was my destiny and made life easy.
I felt this way until one night Andrew tried to speak with me. I barked back. This made him get angry and he told me, “You have given up! You have forgotten who you are! You think that being a puppy is easier. They will just take you away like the others. Look down at your body and remember you are not just a puppy. You are both human and a puppy. Do not let the people here own you! You are better than that. When you remember who you are, then you will be happy and have hope.”
Andrew was right. I forgot who I was. I was not happy. I realized my spirit was broken and I needed to heal myself. This meant two things. I needed to realize that my mom no longer wanted me. I had to understand that she disowned me and this meant that I had to disown her. I also had to accept I was both puppy and human and be proud of it.
The next morning, Ash told me that the doctor wanted to speak with me. So I was taken to this posh office. The doctor looked at me and told me how proud he was that I was now a puppy. “We have done all we can here,” he said, “tomorrow you will be auctioned, This means that rich people will bid on who will own you. I am sure that you are ready for this and you will make your new owner very happy.”
I felt my legs go weak as he said this and felt like I was going to pass out.
When I came back to the cell, I went to my corner and crawled into a ball. I cried and cried. It made me think that no matter how much I wanted it, there was no hope. I was owned and considered a pet. Every time I thought things would be better, then things got worse. It's bad enough that this place nearly destroyed my mind and spirit. Now it destroyed hope and made sure I would never be free again and always be someone's pet or property. I know that my tears fell like self-pity. At the same time, it felt as if no one cared about me. I felt as if I could not decide my future. Others decided my fate. I had no rights or freedom.
The next day, I was taken to a room and told to stand on a small stage. There were some people in the audience, but I could not see them as there was a strong spotlight shining at me. I fell so alone on the stage. I was trembling and felt as if my legs would give in at any time. I knew my eyes were very wet, but I did not cry. I wanted to cry, but I did not want anyone to see this. The bidding started. Some from the room bid and some bid from the internet. I could hear numbers getting higher. It was very humiliating that people wanted to pay money for me. They did not care that I was part human and that I had feelings. They saw me as an animal. The bidding continued and at one stage, the doctor said that I broke all records for the auction. This made me ask myself how many children like me were auctioned before.
The auction was over. The doctor told me that a rich woman from China bought me. She had her private zoo with endangered animals and I would be part of this. I guessed that this zoo was illegal and I would be her trophy
I was in the cell after the auction. I would be transported to China in a few days. I tried not to think of it. There was nothing I could do.
Later that night, Ash woke me up. He told me that he thought it was so wrong what was happening. He wanted to help me escape. I was speechless as Ash told me to follow him. I told Ash that I wanted Andrew to come as well. Ash hesitated and told me that his life was in danger because he was helping me escape. Then he smiled and said that If he was going to risk his life over me, he might as well risk it over two boys. Then he led Andrew and me through some halls and countless doors. We were soon standing outside in the dark, where the only thing we could see was huge trees.
Ash cut our collars off and explained, “If you had these collars on, they could find you. Remember when you asked me why I worked here? This got me thinking and I agree with you. This institution is evil. They inseminated your mothers with what came from a dog. There are other children like you. They are bought here and told that they are only animals. Your food was drugged to make you confused and think less. There were also subliminal messages being played all day long. You could not hear them, but your brain could. These subliminal messages were meant to brainwash you into accepting you were only animals and should be pets. You could stay here and be taken care of and be safe. I do not know what will happen as you are set free. It will not be easy. However, you will be free.”
Ash told us to go so we hugged him and walked towards the woods. It didn’t take that long before we heard some alarms going off. This meant that we knew that they noticed we were gone. We heard some men shouting and saying that we were going this way. I told Andrew that we had to run and we had to run fast.
I was so afraid as this reminded me of the time that they chased me and my dad. Dad was shot and I was caught. This made me think that it would happen again. We ran and ran and stumbled many times. I felt that I had cuts all over my body. I was terrified and felt my heart beating so much that I felt as if it was going to jump from my body. We could hear the men come closer and several bullets were flying around us.
Andrew was crying as we ran. He told me that this was hopeless. We could not outrun them. I told him we had to try. We had puppy strength and instincts. We could run fast and use our puppy senses of scent, sight and hearing to outsmart them. We need to have courage. Andrew smiled and said we had nothing to lose. So we ran faster and more determined. We tried to follow a scent that was like fresh hair and we could hear water. So we went in that direction. I do not know how long we ran. After some time, we did not hear the men's voices anymore. We still ran.
We ended up by a stream. We knew that we were no longer being chased. We were now free. This made us laugh and hug each other. I never heard Andrew speak so much. After some time, he asked us what do we do now. Where should we go?
“I don’t know,” I said, “The important thing is we have freedom. We are no longer owned by anyone. We must make sure we keep our freedom. I think we must find my dad or my best friend Catherine”
Coming soon in the future, “Puppy Experiment III”
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