Human Rights by S.L. Armstrong

Author:S.L. Armstrong
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-62757-105-0
Publisher: Storm Moon Press
Published: 2014-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

My knees hurt. Winter had come, and the combination of the cold weather and the icy, bare floor beneath me left me gritting my teeth. Sir Jiat sat in a chair, turning the pages of some sort of pamphlet the pound left out on the tables in the receiving room. I wanted to shift, stretch my back, but I wasn't allowed. My collar was tight, the lead attached to it taut to keep my back slightly bowed. It was the proper posture for a pet, but it was a posture I hadn't been forced into for any length of time over the last six months. Sir Jiat liked me relaxed, comfortable, but this situation was neither. My six month check in. This was when a master could return his adopted pet for whatever reason. Despite Sir Jiat's assurances before we'd left the house, fear coiled through me. The smell of the pound, the sterile colors, the harsh edges of everything... I wanted to curl against Sir Jiat, beg him to protect me, keep me. This place was hell, and my next step if I was returned yet again was the back room where pets met their end to save a little coin for the city.

I shook myself. No. Sir Jiat had no intention of returning me. He didn't. And he wouldn't lie to me. Never had he lied to me. We were here merely to check in, and then we would go home and this would be forever behind me. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Of course, Sir Jiat would be in just as much trouble as me if he did return me. The things I knew were enough to condemn him and others right alongside me. No, if Jiat ever tired of me, he would have no choice but to dispatch me himself in order to protect his secrets. Not a comforting thought, that, but then, this wasn't a comforting place.

Finally, we were called back into the examination room. Sir Jiat removed my collar and helped me to step up onto the cold metal table. Several more minutes passed before the shelter's doctor came in. Dr. Tiwan's coat was white, whiter even than the sterile, blank walls of this place, which only made his green eyes glow the brighter. Tiwan had been working at the shelter the first time I arrived, and it seemed that he'd be here long after I never had to fear returning.

"Back again, are we, Ewan?" Tiwan asked, not waiting for an answer. "How has he been for you, Sir Jiat? I did warn you when you first adopted him that he was a bit precocious."

Jiat nodded. "You did, but I have to say, it was totally unnecessary. Ewan has been exemplary in my care."

"A reflection, no doubt, of your exceptional skills as a trainer. As I've always said, Humans do possess a fair amount of intelligence and can learn even complex tasks, but left to their own devices, they never survive for long.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.