I am taking a short story writing class.  My intention is to add original short stories to the postings on this blog.   The class is just five weeks long.  That is enough time to obtain some exposure but little else.  The following story is about my dog Freddy. He is a friendly mixed terrier.  He looks like the dog in the Traveler’s Insurance television commercial.

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I can’t remember the first year or so of my life.  When I started realizing something of life I saw that I was in a fenced area.  There were animals everywhere.  Mostly dogs that kept barking.  The barking noise kept me awake at night.  I needed to sleep all day just to recover from the nightly barking and howling.  Someone always came by to give me some food and water.  The food was really bad.  I had no choice.  Either I eat that horrible stuff or I die.

Then one day there was a puddle of water and in it I saw my reflection.  I just did not know it was my reflection.  I thought it was just another dog.  A dog standing near me said “That is your reflection.  That is what you look like.”  I was horrified.  For the first time I realized I was a dog.  I was depressed and curled up in a corner of the prison.

Was there no way out of this place?  How did I get here?  I couldn’t remember.  I thought all of us are doomed prisoners for the rest of our lives.

Every day human beings came by the prison to look at us.  Many dogs barked to get the human attention.  They spoke to each other but I did not understand a word they said.  As time passed some of the dogs in the prison were taken out and never seen again.  Those of us who remained wondered what had happened to them.

One morning a human came into the cell and put a leash on me.  I was taken to an open space outside the prison.  I was frightened.  Who are these beings?  What do they want to do with me?  I sat as far away from them as they would let me.  It wasn’t far enough.  The leash was still hooked onto me.  After what seemed like an eternity I was taken back to my cell.  The other dogs all wanted to know what had happened.  They all said I was lucky to be back in the cell.

Weeks went by and I continued to be bothered by the barking and howling.  Still it was better than what might have happened if I had not been put back into the cell.

The human beings continued to come by the prison every day.  They all seemed to be looking at everyone in the cell.  I never understood a word they said.

I prayed for my freedom.  There was nothing I could do to get of that jail.  The security was too good.

One day I was hooked to a leash and taken to an open area with a high wall.  The leash was removed.  There was still no escaping this place.  The wall was too high.  There were two human beings there.  They were talking but I could not understand a word they said.  Suddenly one said “Free the dogs.”  Or at least that’s what I thought.  At last my freedom was about to happen.  I ran up to the human and jumped up and down in excitement.

Later I was in a large moving box with the same person that said “Free the dogs.”  Then I realized she had said “Freddy.”  I have a great place to live now but when she says “Free the dogs” she doesn’t really mean it.