"A Journey to Home" Story Sample

Chapter 1

I shake my mane for what felt like the thirtieth time. I am tired, wet, starving, bruised, and beaten in several places along my body. Sure, I am a big dog, but I feel as though I had lost several pounds in my trip, and as skinny as a twig. You could almost describe my appearance as forlorn, but inside I am still the steadfast tough dog that I always was. 

What was my purpose? I had no idea. All I know is that I am “strolling” along in the rain. No, not just a light drizzle, but a pouring of water buckets on my head. I can barely make out distant figures through the fog, and what I have seen since I set foot on the road was a bolt of lightning, which I was lucky enough to be electrocuted with (Thanks, Mother Nature).

How did I come to be here, lost in the streets, where a car could hit me, and I wouldn’t know or feel the pain? Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. Well, maybe I could.

* * *

My owners sometimes “forgot” to feed me, which left me starving some nights. I was extremely thirsty because every day they dumped me outside the backyard with no food or water. I had no collar, leash, or even toys to occupy myself with. All my boredom was put into a single piece of fabric I had found in the trash several years ago. They made wry jokes about my skinny appearance, which I noticed they never realized it was all their fault.

Finally, I had had enough of the way they vilified me. As soon as the kids and their parents were out of the house, I snuck under the loose part in the metal fence, and ran towards our neighbors, the forest. I never looked back, and poof! I was gone from their lives forever. Or, at least that’s what I thought at the time.

* * *

      Once I had exit the forest and onto the road, I am on my way to happiness. I have to adapt from the soft forest floor to the hard concrete, but my paws are telling me that I am almost there. However, my brain has no idea where I am going.

Just then, a pair of feet stops my path. I peer up, ready to bear my sharp teeth and continue on my way. But the eyes paralyze my heart. They are dangerous, ready to kill anything that it laid upon. Unfortunately, I am the victim this time.

I attempt to tell the human to go away, but my voice falters, and falls silent. I have a foreboding that this man will not let me pass.

“I see you are loitering this road,” he states calmly, but forcefully. His voice is as dark as night, and judging from his scent, he hunts in the forest. He smells of leaves, dirt, sweat, and the foul stench of dead animal.

“It is imperative we hustle you out of here,” he continues, and I noticed that his eyes were concerned now. “This place is not safe, not here, now now.”

A million questions spark like fireworks in my head. But I know, judging from the look on his face, I should say nothing.

I climb reluctantly onto his truck, feeling a foreboding that I will be sent back home. But in my heart, I know that is not an option. Home is where your parents put you to bed at night, or become choked up over your first day of school, or where they actually care about you. My family never did that to me, or even their own children. That is not home. And they are not my family. I left for that reason, and for that only. I would not “come quietly.” I would have to fight for my life. And I have a plan.