Home

By: Alicia Kerby

      This floor is hard and cold; the hair on my legs has worn away from constantly laying here. The yells and screams from others echoes through these cages, hurting my head and ringing my ears. I don’t know how long I’ve been here…days? Weeks? Years? I was never that great with keeping time. All I knew was how I long to be free from this prison.

      Don’t get me wrong, the people here are nice and caring towards us. They feed me, let me
walk around outside, and let me do my business. Sometimes, I even interact with other prisoners
here. We talk and play every now and then. I don’t recall any of their names, though. After all that, I’m led back into my cage cell, my hairless-patched legs interacting to the cold, hard ground, and the others yelling, crying and screaming to each other from cell to cell. It’s the same routine every day.

     I don’t know why I’m here. I didn’t do anything wrong; I was minding my own business,
running around in the open. Suddenly, I was just snatched up and put into a car. I don’t remember too much of my past. But I know I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m a good girl.

    Anyways, I would get visitors every now and then. Some would come see me, and I would be so happy that I suppose I could get a little rough. They didn’t like that, so they would take me back to my cell. This would upset me. All I wanted was to leave this place with nice people and start my life over. Time went by (I don’t know how long exactly) and I start to lose hope. “I’m never leaving this place,” I thought to myself. “I’m not worthy of a nice, caring family. Maybe I am a bad girl.”

    That thought changed one day, however. I hear the warden walk towards my cell and lead me out to the visiting area. There are five people standing there: a man, a woman, a younger boy,
an older girl, and another girl, but she looks smaller and younger. I haven’t seen many people
recently, so I take off with a bolt of energy strait towards them. I didn’t realize how fragile the little boy is; he flew to the ground. Opps! Sorry! I give him kisses until he gets back up. The man walks up to me and starts playing with me. He has more strength and energy than the boy. I start to play rougher, and he just laughs. This lightens my mood greatly. The sound of laughter makes me happy, like I am a good girl.

   All of the sudden, the warden takes me back to my cell. I am confused; I though those people like me. I suddenly feel that sadness again that I felt earlier. Perhaps that dream family was
too good to be true. I see the warden take a larger prisoner out of his cell to the visiting area. Oh, how I envy him right now. Why didn’t they keep me out there? Was I too rough with that boy?

    After a while, the warden brings the prisoner back to his cell and brings another one with him to see the people. He wasn’t out there as long as the one before him though. This surprised me; this prisoner (whatever his name is) is a friendly one. Suddenly, the warden walks back to my cell, unlocks the door, and leads me back to that family I saw earlier today. I was so excited to see them again that I forgot how weak the little boy was. Down he goes on the floor again with a plop.  The man helps him back up. The warden opens the door and says outside. I run outside into the sunshine and fresh new smells. The family walks outside to join me, and I hear them say the word walk. I love that word. We go on the trail and the girl walks with me, with her family behind us. I know this trail very well. I look at her and smile as I pant for air, and she smiles back at me. What a nice family. I would do anything to go home with them and prove to them that I am a good girl.  

     We head back to the visiting room and I hear another familiar word. Home. Was it finally the day I leave this place? Was I finally going to live with a family with a new life ahead of me? Yes. They put a necklace around my neck and attach a rope to it. The man talks to the warden about something but I don’t hear any familiar words to understand. But then the man takes the rope in his hands and leads me to a car. I’m nervous when it comes to cars, so I hesitate. He pats the floor of his car, and I finally give in and jump into the car.

    After what seems like an eternity of a car ride, we arrive to a building. I hear the word again. Home. What a beautiful word. I can’t think of any better word right now. The yard was beautiful
and very big. It’s all mine now. But better than calling the yard mine, I have a family now, too. I am finally home.