It has been almost two years since that happened, and I have never spoken to anyone in my family since then. I never even have seen anyone from my family either. I was starving I had not eaten yesterday and today. It was about mid-day now and families came by for barbeques. The smell of charcoal filled the air and so did the smell of meats: steaks, hamburgers, hotdogs, and sausages. I was able to swipe away a link of sausages without anyone noticing, well they did not notice until later that day.
Children ran around screaming, men working on a metal grill, and women sitting under the shade on a picnic table. For once, other people did not yell at me, but other dogs had chased me though. There were even other cats too. Everyone was wearing the same three colors: red, white, and blue. There was food everywhere, and everyone was eating. I have never seen so much food before in my life. I ate so much that I probably wouldn’t eat again for a week. I sat down near a family and heard the story of some declaration written so many years ago and of a revolution.
After it was all gone families had played silly human games all around. Balloons filled with water were flying everywhere and people were eating pies like there was no tomorrow. Later, as the sun started to set and the day started to die, a loud screech came from the sky then an explosion, which had sparkled in my eye. I have never seen that happen in all my years. They were loud, but were nice to watch. Different colors were all throughout the sky: reds, blues, greens, purples, whites, and oranges. Children all around where holding these sticks that seemed to be sparkling at the tip of them. Families all around seemed to be so entertained at these exploding lights in the sky.
“Hello, kitty,” said a little girl walking up to me. She had blonde hair and big blue eyes. She was wearing a pink dress with red dots. She had sat down and started to stroke my hair. “Here you go,” she said as she put a beaded necklace around my neck. She sat there rubbing and petting me as I sat there on her lap. Then her parents came over and yelled, “Honey, get away from that thing, you don’t know who it belongs to; it could have fleas or rabies for all you know.” Then they took the little girl by her hands and dragged her away. “Why can’t I have a kitty?” The little girl said in an upset voice as her voice faded away.
Later on, the colorful explosions had started to die down. That was when I had decided to start heading back to my newspapers. As I walked, I glanced over to where my brother was, he was gone now but the feeling was still there. The area jumped out at me and hit me so hard; it knocked me to the ground. I picked myself up and then turned around and stared all the way across the park and saw the lights for the bar, where which was right next to the alley where my parents had lived. I stood there for a few minutes then I shook my head and headed home.
The building was not far from the park, it was only a few minute walk. I walked hoping that I would have a safe walk back to my newspapers and last night wouldn’t happen again. When I had returned home, the papers were gone. I looked around and they were nowhere in sight. I hopped up on the dumpster and walked over to the window and scratched up the boards over it. The boards were rotten so they came of pretty easily. They made a loud bang as they fell onto the dumpster. The noise made me jump and then I went inside. It was dusty; rats had run around scattering into their holes. I had found a box full of old newspapers. I climbed it and went into the open, empty filing cabinet and lied down to sleep for the night.
I had awoken in the middle of the night, to the sound of footsteps. The town police had broken open the windows and the doors and they were searching the building. “I don’t see anything,” one had said moving his flashlight around the place. “Why are we getting calls about brake-ins at this time of night?” The other said, “Who would want to break into an abandoned newspaper factory anyway?” “Someone has broken in here though, the boarded window over there has been taken apart,” the police officer said as he picked up a piece of broken wood from the floor.
There were two of them; one was lofty and emaciated, while the other was diminutive and stout. The door to the upstairs was closed, and hammered in, by many boards. So they cleaved it open and went upstairs. They slowly stepped up each of the steps quietly, as if thinking someone was in a boarded up room. After that, I fell back asleep. There is no use running away without a little extra energy.
“Hey, look a cat,” said the tall officer, looking over at me as I woke up. “What is a cat doing here?” The other officer said, “He must have crawled in here through the open window that someone broke open.” Their hands moved in closer to me, and I sharpened my claws. They tried to pick me up and I swung my claws right on the tall officer’s face and I fell down to the floor. The tall officer screamed many curses out, as he was covering his face with his boney hands. “Get that cat,” screamed the officer, pointing at me. I got up and ran for my life.
The officers outside caught me and picked me up over to the car. He then put me in a crate nearby. “Call animal control and let’s take care of this zany cat,” said the short officer. The officer that caught me turned around to look at the short officer to say something. That is when I had one last chance to escape, before they locked up the crate. I jumped out and ran at the tall officer, who had just gotten up and was walking over to the car, and I scratched him again. He fell down to the ground, cataleptic. The short officer ran to him and I ran down the alley. Too bad animal control was already here.
I had to try to get my way out of this situation now. Thinking of a plan as I ran, I knew what to do. I ran down the alley, jumping and knocking over every garbage can in sight. Then, with a piece of hair, which came off from my fur, I put it down in one direction and ran to the other. I ran down Main Street, looking for an open door or window. I looked and saw an open window and another as well further down the block.
I ran and hopped into the nearest window; luckily, I had landed in the popcorn creel, in the concession stand, at the town’s Cinema. I climbed myself out, shaking off several popcorns that were still attached to me. I walked out looking around and there was no one in sight. I took one-step out proud I had escaped them, again.
Immediately, the men chasing me had found me, one of them grabbed me and threw me into the bag in his hand. “Got him,” said the animal control man, as he closed the bag, the light had slowly tapered. He threw me into the back of the truck, and then closed the doors. He laughed and then whistled along to a popular song stuck in his head. He hopped his way up into the driver’s seat and set the truck off. We were going to the pound.
The ride was extensive, tedious, and jarring. I was not the only animal in there, once I opened up the bag; I had noticed several other animals. There was a small orange and black striped kitten. She was crying and licking her paw. There was also a Great Dane, sitting by himself. There was a gray chubby cat sleeping, and purring in his sleep. There was a small Maltese, just happy and dancing all around without a care in the world. We were five more victims of going to the place were no animal ever returns. No one there has ever escaped and no one knows what it is like. There are only rumors about such a place.
As we had arrived there, we had put ourselves back into the bags. The driver closed the door and went inside the building. He had come back with several men. The men came and took us out one by one. I peeked with my head out slightly to look around. Then, they had brought us into the big, gray building. They took me into a room full of cages; there were dogs and cats everywhere. It was a big room. All throughout the room though, the sound was extremely inaudible. So inaudible, that you could hear a pin drop.

All of the animals were the same. They all had a lugubrious face over there life. They all had lost hope. Their eyes were bloodshot and they all just lied around and did nothing. There food was all left in there bowls and it looked like it was there for a while. Lights glimmered up above over the room. They took me past the room, through the door, and into another room full of animals. Then, I went into another room, and then another. Finally, they then threw me into a cage with another cat in it already. Then the orange stripped kitten came in, then the gray chubby cat. We were all pled in into a tight fit cage, with only slight breathing room for each of us.

The other cat was sitting quietly in the corner. He was old, much older then I. He had a gray streak running across his back, and bald spots over his tail, and parts of his back. He had a scar over his left eye, and his ear had a small hole inside of it. His fur was a black-blue velvet color. He had never said much and had not eaten in a while, judging by his boney structure. He was like all the other animals there that have been there a while, they learned there place in the world through what the humans have shown them to understand. He had just sat there with aversion for his life, and the world.

Next to us in cages, was our happy-go-lucky friend from the ride here. “Isn’t it just great to be alive?” said the Maltese jumping up and down running to each of her, “cell-mates.” “Shut up,” Barked other dogs in the room not moving from their positions with their heads down just lying there with nothing else in the world to do. I decided that maybe this was a dream; maybe I am still back at the park or in the street after the dogs attacked me. Maybe I never got captured, maybe I never met that girl, and maybe my home wasn’t destroyed. So I found an empty spot, and lay down to go to sleep for the night. This place had seemed so bad to everyone, but it did not seem that bad to me, not yet of course.

I woke up the next morning to the sounds of footsteps all around me. There were men, women, and children, everywhere. I looked around, and the striped kitten was gone, forever, never for me to see again. There were only three of us left in the cage. If we were to ever make a sound we would have a muzzle put on us for three days, some new guys had to learn the hard way. If we tried to escape we were taken into the back room and never seen again. We had to learn that these humans think they own the world and that they think they can control an animal because they are inferior to them.

Four days passed, I saw people come and go; animals come in, and leave. The Maltese was gone by the second day. The gray chubby cat got into a fight with our new friend on the third day. He was taken away later that day and out the back door into the back room. We had another cat come in earlier on the fourth day He was an orange cat, he was younger than I was. I knew after the fifth day that this was not a fun place, I was going zany. Animals are not meant to stay in a small container. I was going to escape any way I could.

I whispered my ideas to my new orange cat friend. He told me the dangers about them, yet he had to agree that this wasn’t a good place to be. One day finally a voice spoke his opinion. “You're not going to escape, you’re just going to get all beat up like me,” came a hoarse voice from the corner. The black cat turned around and looked at me with his eye. His green eye twitched and became teary at me. “I have to get out of here, I’m not giving up without a fight,” I said standing up and slightly raising my voice to him. “Don’t you get it, you can’t escape, just look at me, I have been here for eight years,” he said. “If there wasn’t a way ere then there is no way now,” the cat said. I was speechless at that, but I still had the thought of escaping in my head.

Just then, the cage door opened, another cat was entering our cage. My chance to escape was now or never. The black cat and orange cat held me back, and said, “It’s not worth it, once they catch you it will be twice as bad.” I stepped forward, but the black cat scratched me right on the back. I leaped forward and out the entrance. I landed on the floor and looked up and the man holding the cat. “Get that cat,” yelled the worker. I stopped staring and I ran for the door, too bad it was made of steel. I hit my head hard, leaving an indent in the door. I shook it off and ran down the aisle, I couldn’t risk getting caught.

I ran into another roomed and my heart stopped. I looked up at the cats in the cages, six cages, and two cats in each. I could not take it; it was too upsetting to witness what has happened. I ran for the door. My father rolled his eyes and put his head back down. They had not had any more kids since the incident with my brother. They had gotten old in their two years I had been gone.

I ran as hard as I could, room after room. I sneakily climbed in the cages and under the workers legs to pass the ones in my way. The entrance, was near, I was so close. Then a little girl squealed, “Kitty!” The girl had blonde hair and blue eyes, I had seen her before, but I was not going to risk probably that the girl would take me and then they will take me back, so I ran for the door ignoring her but I kept watching her. Everyone at the front was watching me now, but none of them made any moves to catch me. I was at the front; the door was right in front of me. Just as I got to the door, the men have entered the room. I did not know what to do now. There was no way out that I could get this door open by myself. As I saw a woman leaving, I noticed she had a black bag. Just at that moment a worker tripped over a broom and everyone took their eyes off of me to look at the man. I jumped right in her bag and blended right in. She walked out, and I jumped out taking my steps of freedom from that confinement. I had done what no cat or dog has done before, I escaped the pound.

I ran down the street, I had escaped. However, I was lost. I had no idea where I was. I had never been anywhere around here before. It was getting late. The sun was setting and the sky was pink. I was fine, just walking, trying to get home. I was hungry; I had not eaten in five days. The gray cat and the orange cat had eaten all the food we have gotten and even that amount of food was a small amount. There was nothing but trees in the distance, so I could not eat anything, and I could not see anything.

I was famished; I did not even know where I was. My only hope was that I could find a way back home or at least something to eat. It was getting darker out as I kept walking. My shadow was fading ever so slightly after every minute. My life the past week has been running through my mind the whole time since I left the pound. I was walking and walking. My destination was unknown.

I had been walking for hours now. The sun had set, and it was completely dark. The road full of trees on every side had continued. All there was in the distance was trees. With so many trees, I realized the world was n***** than I thought. I always thought the world was just the city and the pound. I was wrong, I was long from home, there was not all these trees back in the city. If I did not eat anything soon enough, I knew I would fall any second.
I continued walking for miles now. My paws were in so much pain. They felt as if they will fall of any second now and I would collapse. It felt like I was walking a hundred miles now. There was still nothing but trees up ahead. Maybe there was something on the other side of these trees. There was only one way to find that out. I decided to walk through the trees and see how far they stretched. I did not have a good feeling about entering the forest, but what other choice did I have? I was not going to continue walking down the endless road with nothing but trees on either side until I would pass out from starvation.

I walked through and animals that I have never seen before flew above me. They were dark colored animals. They appeared to be flying rats with wings. They had an irritating screech as they flew around. They seemed to have sensed me, but it was light they could not see me coming their way. They seemed interesting, yet creepy animals. They couldn’t be birds, for they are asleep by this time of the night.

“Hheelllloo,” said one of the animals, in a dark and evil voice flying past me. “Wwhhaatt aarree yyoouu ddooiinngg aarroouunndd hheerree?” Another one asked screeching as they all laughed at me. “Wwhhaatt aarree kkiittttyy ccaattss ddooiinngg aarroouunndd hheerree?” Another asked mocking me as they meowed like a cat. “Lleettss tteeaacchh hhiimm aa lleeaassoonn,” they said. They all flew around me, one by one, coming up and down, biting me. I tried to run, but there was too many of them to take. They heard my every move, even when I was quiet they still heard any movement. My world was spinning around, and then I fell. Lights came up behind me.


I was dreaming. I was sitting down, in a room. It was dark; there were no lights on. All I could see is a chair across the room. I got up to look around. The animals flew around me, circling me like vultures about to attack their prey. I ran crashing into the walls many times. “Follow me,” said a voice somewhere. “Come on I’m over here,” the voice said. I looked to my right. There was a door opened, with a figure in the doorway. I could not make out whom the figure was; all I could see is a shadow because beyond the doorway there was a bright white light. I ran toward the doorway, and then out the door with the figure. It was a small black cat. He was familiar looking. He was my youngest brother. “What… what are you doing here?” I asked staring at his sight. “I’m here to save you from the bats of course,” he said laughing. “No, I mean you died, why are you here?” I asked. “If I’m dead then how am I here?” He asked staring at me with his eyes. “Where are we?” I asked, changing the subject. “Where right near home, follow me,” He said walking forward, “Mom and dad are waiting for us.”I stopped and then he stopped, I looked at him strangely. “Mom and dad? But there back at the pound,” I said. “No,” he said, “they’re still at their box like always. What’s with you today? See,” he said pointing his paw at the box. “Hello,” said my parents, “welcome home, it’s nice to see you again, and you have been gone for a while.” Just as I was about to speak, everything changed. My family had turned into beasts. My house had changed into a cliff. They all jumped on me, tearing me apart. “How does it feel to be like you brother,” hissed my parents. Then I fell off the cliff, to my deaths. I closed my eyes not watching me hit into the sharp rocks.

I woke up sweating. I was in a room. There was a man with a mask on his face in a white coat. He was holding a needle in his hand. I had bandages over my body. I could not see very well. Bandages covered my right eye, and my left was on the man. “Is he all right?” A woman asked calmly. “Yes, he should regain consciousness any minute now,” the man said putting away the needle into a box. “I have fixed up his wounds and gave him the necessary shots,” he said as he packed away his supplies.
I picked myself up and sat. The man then came over and removed my bandages from my body. I sat there and looked around the pale white room and the woman in a pink shirt and a black skirt. The woman had brown hair, but had blue eyes. The woman came over and picked me up. “Thank you,” she said as she walked out of the room. The man nodded as she left.

She walked me through the hallways were many other animals with owners were sitting. I had looked over and had seen the striped kitten with a man and a little boy. I had seen him and we both smiled at each other knowing we both managed to get out of the pound. The woman took me out the door and through the parking lot into her car. She then drove out into the street and away.
We drove for a little while, and I looked out the car window at all the passing buildings. We had drove through the town and passed the Local news building which the sign had been taken down and was soon to become a pet store, and all the old buildings I have had many adventures through. We continued driving into I saw a bunch of houses, no stores or buildings. She made a right turn down a street and then we arrived at a house. A little girl who was waiting at the front door ran out and stood on the grass. She had blue eyes and blonde hair. They had found me; and took me to their house.

The girl ran and hugged me as soon as the woman came out of the car. She took the necklace that she gave me back at the park off my neck. Then a man came out of the house with a collar and put it around my neck. I was their cat now. I had a home, finally. There were people that loved me. I walked my way into the house with a bowl of food, and water sitting out waiting for me. I was happy; I was no longer a stray black cat.