Born to be Wild


Chapter 1: Fall from grace

A small wet nose sniffed the air. A friend was approaching. Well “friend” would be a strong word. Michael didn't really make “friends”. The serene sounds of the winds blowing in the trees was briefly interrupted by a rustle as a small figure came out of the bushes and slunk towards him.

“Hey babe” the sultry voice said as a paw caressed his cheek. Michael turned away sharply.

“Stop. Do you have to bother me every time I am in the area?” Michael sternly replied

“oh come on. A girl rarely gets action around here” her tone suddenly changed to harsh and suspicious “or am I not as good as all those other girls that swoon over you”

“no! I'm just not in the mood today, ok? Leave me alone” he gruffly replied as he turned and started to walk away.

“what's happened to you? You used to be always willing. You are getting old Michael. Are those old joints aching?”

“fuck off!” Michael sharply twisted to her and stood strong as he yelled “I have plenty of fight in me yet don't you worry and I am not afraid to use it on you”

“oh yes tell me big boy” she grinned

“no not like that, fuck...” Michael turned away and sighed “I told you I am not in the mood and that's it. Leave me be”

“UGH! FINE! Well don't crying to me when you want some lovin'” and just like that she sweeped out of there like a snake in the grass.

Michael sighed deeply and sat in the cool grass looking up at the beautiful starry night sky. He spoke to himself “why do things always have to be so hard with her? Why does everything have to be so hard?” he sighed again “sometimes I just wish things were easier”

and with that Michael decided to curl up and settle down for a nap. It didn't matter where. He knew he could defend himself if anyone jumped him. He wasn't afraid. Everyone knew he was the boss wherever he went. He was the biggest and strongest Puppian around and he had the scars, muscles and skills to prove it. Yet he found himself feeling more and more like this with every night that passed. But that doesn't matter now. He better get to sleep.

Michael woke with a start! He was sure he heard something. A loud crash that woke him up but not like one he had heard before. Maybe his half asleep mind playing tricks on him but he couldn't take any risks. Others were always ready to jump him if they get the chance. He sniffed the air. A smell he doesn't often smell but was unmistakable. Humans! But he was out far away from the closest town. What were humans doing here? Michael was on high alert and stood firm ready for an attack from any direction.

What he didn't expect was a little thing flying through the air towards his thigh. He felt a prick in his leg and quickly turned but didn't see anything. He looked at his thigh and saw a little thing stuck in his leg. He pulled it out and inspected it. It had a very long sting on it but no face or body. Very odd. Like nothing he had ever seen before. He sniffed it. It didn't smell of a wasp or bee. Suddenly Michael found himself not feeling himself. He shouldn't be drowsy he just was asleep and it was daylight. Maybe he was coming down with something? His legs began to feel week. No. This isn't normal. This is something else. His eyes grew heavy and he fell to the ground unable to keep himself upright. As his vision grew blurry he saw a tall figure. Humans. Of course. He growled menacingly but he didn't have any energy left to fight. He fought it as long as he could but before long his eyes were closed and he fell into a deep sleep.

When he awoke he felt very woozy. As he tried to stand up he gripped his head as he found he had a splitting headache. He looked up and noticed a grey shape blocking him from standing completely. As his eyes refocused he found out he was trapped. In a sort of square bush of grey wires. It was nothing like he had seen before but he knew his strength would get him through as it always did. So Michael charged the grey box with his shoulder full force but it didn't have the result he expected. The cage flew forward with him still in it and he crashed against the wall or whatever it was. It seemed to bend back a bit when he did it and was white but dark and away from light. Was he inside a box inside another box? What on earth is going on? He tried bashing the cage some more but it was no use. There was now way he could break this thing and he was only tiring himself out.

He barked and growled angrily at the situation. The humans were behind this. He just knew it. This is why he never trusts them. Suddenly the white wall split into two halves and a human male stood before him. He smelt strongly, even more than most humans and had scars of his own but this didn't scare him. He screamed at him.

“let me out now you fucking human or I will tear your face off!”

The human bashed a thick smooth stick on the cage he was in and he had to flinch to get away. It was very loud and hurt his head even more so he held his ears against his head to make it quieter.

“Shut the fuck up!!” The human yelled “Stupid fucking mutt” he mumbled as he closed the white wall again and went away.

Michael didn't know what the humans were saying nor did he care as he groaned at the pain of his poor head. He laid there quietly as he heard the hum come back again and the box started to jostle and bounce a little off the ground before then settling again as the hum got lower and constant.

Michael begin to think carefully about his situation. He had already tried to force the grey bush but that wasn't an option. If he made further noise in this weak state he would only draw attention to himself and maybe put himself in more danger. No matter how much he didn't like it. He was better off keeping his mouth shut. He should conserve his energy as the only thing he could do now is wait for something to change and spot an opening to escape. Something told him it might be a while though.

Grrrrrowl. Michael looked down at his belly. It was rumbling loudly. It true he had nothing to eat today so far and it looked like no food was coming any time soon. Michael had never been in this situation before and it was beyond frustrating. He could barely move let alone hunt for any food. He was always able to do whatever he wanted and hunger hadn't been any problem for years. He barley remembered what real hunger felt like. Now he remembered and he didn't like it. Ruuuuummmble. 

“shut up!” he found himself yelling at his own stomach. “oh god at this rate I am going to go fucking mad!” he said to himself. He sighed again and listened carefully but with all the knocking about of whatever he was in, it was difficult to hear anything else. Not to mention his stomach yelling at him. He tried sniffing and he quickly regretted it. This place stank of human and many other things he wasn't familiar with but didn't like at all. There was no clue of even where he was. Well there was nothing for it then to sleep at this rate so he lay down and tried to rest his head and forget his hunger which was obviously difficult.

After a while of resting and feeling hungrier and hungrier, he could swear he could smell something delicious. He thought it was his imagination until suddenly things jostled badly again and he tried to keep his footing. The humming slowed down again and he heard the noises he recognised from before when the human yelled at him. Maybe they were going to meet him again? He prepared himself but nothing came of it. Things went strangely quiet. After a while the delicious smell was even stronger. So much he could barely bare it and he found himself barking in frustration. The wall split and flung open as an angry human yelled at him again but Michael wasn't thinking about that.

He looked at the human's hand and noticed an odd looking thing but he was sure it was the source of the smell. He didn't even care what it was, he wanted it and he found himself drooling and staring longingly. The human seemed to notice and also looked at what was in his hand and then back at the drooling puppian.

“oh you want this huh?”

the human started waving it in front of his cage. Obviously Michael couldn't reach it and his stomach yelled even louder. Michael may not have understood his word but he knew when someone was making fun of him. Michael screamed and growled angrily and bared his huge teeth. 

“back off you fucking prick!” he screamed but he only found himself getting bashed by the weird stick again. He held his head again at the noise.

“fat chance you are getting any of this! Now shut the fuck up we are almost there” and with that the human slammed the wall shut and the familiar noises and movement came back again.

Michael looked sadly at his rumbling belly and sighed as he rubbed it quiet. As much as he hated it, there was nothing he could do. He was helpless. For once in his life, Michael felt worried and even a little scared. 

After waiting even longer, finally it seemed things were changing again. It sounded like the humans left and then they came back and opened the wall. They picked up the cage with Michael in it and for the first time he could see where he was as he was carried around by the humans. There was many grey things around and it smelt terrible. Of old urine, rotten meat and even fear. He could hear whimpering of other puppians. This was definitely not a good place and a terrible feeling consumed him. He could smell blood. He could smell sickness. Tears. Death. He was not just worried, he was very scared. It was clear the humans had power here and they took advantage of it but this feeling soon faded as he saw more humans walking around and talking to the one which had be travelling with him. His fear was consumed by anger. Seething raging anger. He barked menacingly with pure rage in his eyes. He wouldn't let them get away with this. He would kill them all!

The human yelled at him again and after the humans talking to each other again shortly he was thrown straight out of his grey bush and into a bigger one. He turned and ran for the entrance but it closed before he could reach it. He snarled at the human who threw him in there after he slammed against the door but the human still had the stick and smashed it hard against the door. The door shook violently like a fearful puppy in the cold of winter and the sound ringed in his ears. His covered them quickly and his was reminded of his terrible headache. He felt like he was going to be sick as he backed away into the corner of the grey cage holding his head. He sat down and breathed heavily until things turned to normal again.

When he came to he saw the human was gone. He looked around and noticed he had other puppians both young and old on both sides of him, going for as far as he could see. He looked to the one closest to him, an old thin puppian to his right. He was muscular but clearly hadn't been eating well as muscles and bones is all he had. He had nasty scars all over him. As Michael stared the old puppian turned to him with an expression he had never seen before. It sent shivers down his spine. It was like there was nothing in there anymore. His soul was gone. There was nothing but despair in that face. He didn't even react to him but just stared back. Michaels stomach growled at him and reminded him of his hunger. He looked down for a second and then looked back up to see the old puppian slowly turn away with no change in his face. It was clear he had seen this happen many times before.

Then Micheal was startled by barking and howling coming from many puppians down the hall. All sounding desperate, pleading for something. His attention was drawn to a young pup who was covered in fresh bruises and wounds to his left. The pup was screaming fearfully but desperately pleading with the rest of them and clearly louder than the others. He jumped and ran around in circles and then went running to the grey cage door of his cell as the human approached, his footsteps echoing down the hall and adding to the sad symphony. He was holding something and Michael could smell meat. He looked at the pup again as he heard him screaming

“please, please! I'm so hungry just a bite I will be good I promise. Just a bite pleeeeeease!”

this yelling was quickly halted by the human smashing his stick against the door and the pup froze in place as the human screamed back. Then the pup backed up to the wall and screamed in a different and even louder tone as the door was opened.

“no! NO! I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!” he screamed. This was followed by many other puppians pleading for the human to stop. 

Michael saw the human raise the stick high as he grabbed the young pup by the lose skin at back of the neck and then things went eerily silent as he swung it down onto the little ones head. The horrible sound of flesh and wood echoed throughout the halls. There were no more screams. Just the sound of whimpering and sensitive flesh getting smacked over and over. Micheal stared in horror. He looked around. The old puppian wasn't even looking. Michael was for once speechless and frozen in fear. Tears poured down his face. He was powerless. They all were. There was nothing he could do.

After what felt like forever, the human stopped and left. The pup just sat there. Sobbing. Michael looked to the many other puppians in the hall. Half were crying and staring in horror just like him and the others who were thinner and older were looking away. Then the human came to his cage and opened the door. Michaels instinct kicked in and he started snarling and baring his teeth but he held back. The pup was weak but he didn't know how strong the humans had the potential to be so he kept his distance.

Then the human threw him the thing he was carrying and it slid across the floor. He jumped fearing it was an attack but soon realised it was a thick slab of meat. He looked up at the human but they were already going back down the hall and the footsteps echoed once more. Michaels stomach rumbled loudly again. This was his first chance to eat and it was clear this wasn't a common thing here so he best take advantage of it but when he took a closer look it didn't take long for him to realise something was wrong.

The meat was writhing with maggots and the smell was unbearable. This was clearly not fresh meat and normally he would never eat something like this. He took a step back from the powerful odour assaulting his nose. He looked to the pup and he was staring drooling at the meat before noticing his gaze and quickly looking away and running to the opposite corner of his cage in fear. He looked at the old puppian and he was still not looking this way. Just staring at the door emotionless. Michael heard another rumble but this time it wasn't him. It was the pup who looking longingly again. Michael was hungry but only for a day. That puppy need it more than him. But was it a good idea to give a pup rotten meat? Well its better than nothing. He was clearly hungry enough.

Michael took a deep breath and then regretted it. He went to the door and looked out for humans. No one was there now. Then he went back and carefully picked up the meat and pushed it under through the gap under the grey cage wall to the pup. The pup was still staring and when he came towards him he whimpered and ran off again but after a while he looked back and saw the meat. He stared confused at Michael and Michael just stared back. The pup then ran over and grabbed the meat and began to eat. Stuffing it down like it would be his last meal in his life. Michael smiled a little before he heard a voice behind him.

“kindness like that doesn't get ya anywhere here. You will learn that soon enough” the old puppian said in a long and slow croak before turning away again.

Even when talking his expression didn't change. Michael knew it probably wasn't wise for himself to do that but he didn't have the heart not to. So Michael just sat there. What else was there to do. Nothing to do but think about what is going to happen next. There was nothing in this cage except old urine and faeces. Not even a single rock or stone. Nothing but his thoughts. 

A few hours passed. Then Michael heard something happening. The humans were talking to each other again and then the door at the end of the hall opened again. Michael felt a shiver go down his spine. What was going to happen now? He didn't dare think about it. Instead he just stared at the human coming down the hall. This time it was two humans. One was the aggressive human from before now without their stick and the other was clearly a female. They came up to his cage and he growled and bared his teeth. He wasn't going to be taken off guard. 

“Got this one new this mornin'. He's a biggen. Gonna be great in the ring” the male bellowed to the female
“Yeah? Well how I know he won't jus' run off?” the female said with a strong accent. “I gotta know he's quala-e. Ya coulda jus' given 'em those muscle drugs. I know ya sneaky buggers” she continued. This comment made the male seem nervous.

“nah he's def all fightin' ah-”
“bugger off then and let me have em a minet. I know how ta get em goin'”
“but ya can't jus-”
“ya want my wonga or not?”
“alright fine woman...fuck” and the male started walking to the end of the hall mumbling to himself as he went clearly bothered by the females comments

The the female stared at Michael and he began to growl and snarl louder than before. He made himself look as big as he could. There was no way he was getting jumped by this human. The woman checked for the male to be gone and then suddenly Michael was surprised to see the womans face soften. She then spoke in a much softer and completely different voice than before.

“hey sweetheart. It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you” she said as she slowly knelt down to Michaels level behind the cage door. Her face spoke a completely different story than it did before and Michael had never felt so confused in his life. Was that some sort facade? He found himself too confused to snarl anymore and his face dropped as he stared into her gentle eyes trying to figure her out. Then his stomach growled again. He almost forgot about it and was a little startled by it. This made the female human laugh. Her laugh was soft and sweet and she smiled a warm and friendly smile at him afterwards. Her whole essence spelt kindness in every way but that's impossible right? Human's were evil! He saw what they did to that pup next to him. He looked at the pup and he was staring looking just confused as him. 

Then he noticed the human reaching into something she was carrying on her back and he quickly turned and growled again. He wasn't going to get caught off guard. She might be getting a weapon to beat him with. He was alert. But then he was surprised again when she revealed a big healthy slab of meat. This one was clearly quality and not rotten at all. Michaels eyes widened and he started to drool but he didn't dare approach even so. It wasn't worth the risk. These human's are sneaky and it could be a trick, he was well aware of that.

The female smiled sweetly again and reached into the cage to put the meat on the floor in front of her and then waited patiently. Michael stared at her and back at the meat and then her again. This might be an opportunity he can't miss. He slowly inched closer and closer, often pausing to see if the coast was still clear. When he got close enough he reached over and grabbed the meat. He ran with it to the back of the cage to scoff it down. It tasted amazing.

The human just sat there smiling. Michael considered going back and then slowly approached again. When he got close the female reached her hand out. Michael sniffed her hand tentatively. She even smelt sweet and he found himself smiling back at her. Suddenly, an echoing sound was heard through the hall as the door at the end opened again. The male was back. The female took a deep breath and braced herself to turn back into her other self. Michael wandered back to the back of the cage and watched.

“everythin' 'ight?” the male said as he approached 
“oh yeah this ones a keepa. I get my money tomorra so I'll come back an' pick em up” she replied
“you better” the male said under his breath
“ay I 'eard that! I don't get em if I don't pay do I? Honestly, ya men are all such tossers. Where can a gal get some respect around 'ere?” the male continued to splutter trying to appease this woman down the hall as they left.

Michael was left confused but with a full belly. He looked to the pup who now seemed angry at him and the pup turned away in disgust. Michael realised he didn't give him the meat but it was too late now. What was done was done and there was no point in apologies. Michael rested and ended up taking a nap.

The next day wasn't much better. He saw puppians go and come back beaten and some didn't come back at all. He found himself not being able to get that confusing human out of his head. It was the only hope he had to hold onto after all. But then something felt off. More off than usual. Humans were crashing and banging loudly passed the door at the end of the hall and what sounded like male humans were yelling loudly and sternly but with different voices from the ones he had heard before. 

Then almost as quick as it started it then went quiet again. Michael and the many other puppians waited in anticipation staring at the door, hoping that whatever came out of there would a good thing. Then a row of similarly dressed humans came in looking cautious. They were also holding something Michael recognised from years ago. Guns! A human killing machine! Michael snarled and growled as they went past but when they saw him they just looked away again and kept moving. After a while of searching they called out to the door and more humans came in also dressed differently but they looked similar to each other. A different group? These humans didn't have guns and looked less threatening. 

The gun bearing humans also put the guns away and seemed to calm down when they met up with them. He saw many of these less threatening humans opening each cage and examining the puppians. Then they tied a rope around their neck and walked them out of the cage one by one and put them in smaller cages. They seemed to have soft voices but they were only putting them in more cages. Perhaps a change of power? Humans taking over another territory. Whatever it was Michael was on guard. 

Then he saw a familiar face. It looked like the female from before but she was in totally different clothes this time. She still had that sweet smile. She opened the cage and came closer. Michael growled and backed away but she stopped and put out her hand. Michael sniffed. It was definitely her. Michael found himself losing control of his emotions for a second and jumping into her arms wagging his tail furiously. 'Oh thank god you are here!' He thought as he snuggled and rubbed his cheek lovingly on her chest. He didn't even notice her picking him up and holding him as she stood up.

Then he came back to his senses and was not happy to find his feet not touching the ground. He squealed in panic and tried to wriggle free before he felt a comforting touch on his head. The female stroking his head gently with her hand. It felt wonderful and distracted him yet again. Rummmmble. His stomach growled at him once again and the female human didn't fail to provide more good food to eat. Michael scoffed the food and didn't notice him being carried to a van. Before long he was put into the small grey cage yet again. 

Michael no longer liked this human. He let his emotions get the better of him and that was a weakness he had to be careful of. He wouldn't let down his guard again. Michael did notice it was much comfier in this cage though and a bowl of water there to. He was very thirsty so he took advantage of this and quickly gulped it all down. There was a strange, soft, flat and floppy thing in the cage too which was comfortable and warm when he snuggled into it. He hadn't been this comfortable for several days so he was very happy with this at least for now.

He took this opportunity to rest since it would most likely be a while till he got out again knowing what happened last time. He wasn't the only one here. Several other puppian's where tucked into wherever he was as well but he didn't bother to talk to them. Its not like they knew what was going on either. Some looked happy, some were scared and some were unchanged. Michael closed his eyes and waited to see where they would end up.


Chapter 2: Saved or recaptured?

Before he knew it he was being carried out again into the fresh air. This place smelt a lot better and he felt he could finally use his nose again. He took a moment to sniff the fresh air as he was carried along. These humans were a lot more careful with how they held him. He was transferred from this cage to guess what ANOTHER CAGE! Michael was getting pretty sick of this. However, this cage was very very different. For one it was bigger, second there was more of the comfortable warm stuff and third there seemed to be some odd objects around the floor. It was also definitely not covered in old faeces and urine which was wonderful of course. In fact, it smelt sort of like flowers.

Michael decided to find out what these odd objects on the floor were. One was tough and teared a little like a hard vine. Not sure what that is for but it felt good on his teeth. Then he rolled around the round object. It bounced about easily. Having had nothing to do for several days Michael played with this object for a while. Before he knew it Michael was being dragged out of this cage again to another room. It was the female from before. She always had a way of smiling that made him want to stay with her and he ended up loosening to her will again.

This time a male human dressed in white was waiting for them and he was placed on a flat surface elevated from the ground. The human in white started pulling at ears and putting something in it which he didn't like at all. Michael snarled at the human but turned to see the female looking disappointed. Michael decided to stop and see where this went. The experience was uncomfortable but not painful. The human just poked and prodded him a bunch and then he was moved again. The female seemed happy though so apparently something good came from that. God knows what the humans were doing and Michael didn't care much. He was put back in the comfortable large cage and then given more food. It seemed these humans weren't trying harm him, at least for now.

Days went past and every day was much the same. Michael would be mostly in this large cage and left to himself with food and water given to him throughout every day. Sometimes the humans would come in and bounce the round thing around, seemingly looking for a response from him but he was just confused. They would also try to grab the vine thing when he was biting it but when he let go or snarled at them they seemed unhappy. 'I will never understand these stupid humans' he thought to himself. They also took him outside at least once a day.

The fresh air felt great and he longed to go back home to the forests where he belonged but running out of the humans hand during these walks had turned out fruitless. They were able to catch him the one time he escaped as he found out he was blocked by wooden sticks around the area and the humans had special tools to use against him. The other times he couldn't even get out of their hand as the thing around his neck would get tighter and he couldn't chew it off. Despite this they still seemed to treat him the same.

But his favourite time of day would be when that female human would appear. She was fascinating to him and always seemed to leave him in a good mood. She brought him tasty treats and pet his head just right. She was the only one he trusted to his head but he still didn't trust her to touch his belly which she had tried to do a few times. He liked the way he didn't feel pressure to do something for her when she was around. She didn't mess around with the vine thing or bounce the round thing around. She didn't poke and prod at him and make sudden reaches for his face. She just seemed happy to be there with him. Sometimes she would take him for walks to. These were always his favourite walks. Things just seemed calmer with her and she let him sniff and explore things sometimes. 

Then one day she seemed happier than usual. Excited even. Michael stared at her curiously.

“What are you so happy about? Stupid human” He wondered as me mumbled to himself.

Then he saw her come out of a room with a bunch of white, flat, floppy squares and a big grin on her face. She had his lead ready but it wasn't the usual walk time. What is going on? He was lead out of his cage and she put her arms around him. Michael was surrounded by this humans arms all of a sudden and he quickly barked at her. He almost managed to bite her arm but she pulled away in time. He had bitten several humans since he got here and he knew they didn't like it. The human knew to back away but she looked disappointed.

“Oh don't look at me like that! What did you expect when you jump on me like that? For gods sake!” he complained grumpily to the human.

The human smiled again and continued to walk him out of the building. He thought he was going on an unexpected walk at first but he soon realised they were going the wrong way. Before he could figure out what was going on, the human got out another of those small cages. 

“Oh no! Not this time!” he exclaimed and struggled and screamed with all his might. In there end it was no use as after several humans came over and brought their tools he stood no chance. He was now in a small cage YET AGAIN! 

Michael sat there pouting as he waited to see where he was going now. Michael was pretty sick of all this moving around. He wanted to stop and be the same for just one god damn month or so. He didn't even move around this much in the wild. 

It didn't take long this time for the doors to open again. The female human he had become a bit more accustom to picked up the cage and took him into a new building. This one didn't smell of many strange smells like the last one did but instead very strongly of the female human's scent and other puppians. Could this be the human's den? But if so why does it smell of other puppians? Nevertheless, it was quieter and warmer so he felt a little better to be here but not by much. He wasn't letting his guard down for one second.

Then he saw them. Other puppians of various ages running round the corner to see the human. They seemed happy she was there and greeting her cheerily. Oh no. These are domestics! Michael didn't know much about them but he had watched the local human town from afar from time to time and seen these soft fat creatures happily wandering around and pandering to the humans will. It was clear they were either brainwashed or just plain stupid. No sane puppian would be happy to be captured and forced to live with a human. 

He identified 4 other puppians that he could see and smell around the house. He had to keep his guard up. He was outnumbered and in unfamiliar territory. The human put down the cage in the middle of one of the rooms and sat down to watch the other puppians approach Michael. They all rushed over at first but the human spoke and then they backed away a little and took turns to visit Michael. 

Michael stayed at the back of his cage and snarled at them when they got close. Nevertheless, they went right up to the cage and sniffed him. One was running around and jumping all over the place. A teen male puppian who clearly didn't have much self control. The other young adult female puppian grabbed him by the ear as he ran past.

“Hey Jake! calm down, ok?” she said in a stern yet loving tone
“but we haven't had a new family member for ages! This is big! Aren't you excited?” the young pup said
“yes of course but if you run around like that you are gonna make him uncomfortable” the female explained. Jake sighed.
“ok...” he said looking very disappointed
“you can talk to him later once he has got more used to the house” the third puppian and older male said
“exactly” the female said in a happier tone and she rubbed Jake on the head in a friendly gesture. This made Jake smile and chuckle a little bit.
“stop it” he said playfully
“nope!” and the female begin to tickle him and they ran off to another room chasing each other and laughing.

The older male looked on at them smiling. It was clear these puppians were a pack with strong family bonds whether related or not. The older male puppian came closer to Michael and sat down.

“sorry about those two. They can be a little excitable at times. I promise they are nice when you get to know them” he said calmly
“so how are you feeling?” he asked. Michael found his older wiser voice more soothing than the others but he still wasn't going to let his guard down.
“humpf. What do you think?” Michael said begrudgingly 
“I'm sure its not easy being dragged into a new home like this but I assure you we are not going to hurt you” the older male said
“and you think just saying that is going to make me believe you?”
“no but its a start. My name is Robert. Do you mind at least telling me yours?”
“...Michael...” he muttered unsure what to make of this strange meeting but there is no harm in letting him know his name.
“ah now we are getting somewhere. The woman in the other room is Lynda and the young boy is Jake. He's excitable and nieve but a good kid and Lynda is friendly and gentle to Jake but she also a strong character. She will not let you mess with her. Then there is little David. Well I say little but he is not much younger than Jake but he has a young heart. Very kind and gentle but sensitive. And me well. I'm just an old coot who keeps things calm”
Michael stayed silent for a while and then decided to talk.
“Well don't get too comfortable. I'm not staying”
“oh?”
“no I'm not! I was supposed to be out there! Not stuck in this stupid humans den”
“well I'm afraid when you get this far there isn't much else you can do. You might as well stop worrying and enjoy it. Anna isn't that bad. She is a very kind and considerate human with more puppian social knowledge than you would expect”
“wait did you just call the human a name?”
“yes. She may be in charge but she is a member of the family like all of us”
“no she's not! This is why I need to get out of here. You guys are crazy! No human can be family to us no matter how nice they seem. Don't you realise you are trapped here against your will to?”
“yes but it really isn't as bad as you think”
“we will see about that”
they were both silent for a while until Robert sighed and spoke again
“well you will understand in time. Like it or not” and with that Robert wandered away and left Michael to his thoughts. 

Michael had nothing to do but sit and think. He was still trapped in this small cage. The human had also walked out in the middle of the conversation it seemed. He looked around and plotted an escape route. He wasn't going to make any relations. He would be out of there as fast as possible and all this will be behind him before long. He looked out the window nearby at the trees blowing in the gentle breeze outside and thought of home. He would get there. No matter what it took.

After a while Michael was getting rather bored of this stupid cage. Luckily, the human decided to open the front so he could finally escape. He immediately leaped out and stretched his legs.

“Oh thank god! That's feels good” he smiled before noticing the human smiling back
“what are you looking at?” he huffed before running off to wander the house and sniff everything he could. 

He saw some comfy spots with those floppy warm things on it like he had seen before. It smelt strongly of Robert. This must be his sleeping spot. He wandered into the other room and saw Robert laying there with one eye open watching Lynda talking to Jake. The human was also in the back sitting and staring intently at something. He quickly moved on so he didn't get spotted. He didn't need the extra attention. 

He wandered into another room which smelt of food. It had many big human gadgets he didn't know of so he didn't spend long there. He saw the stairs and climbed up them to see more rooms. One had a big floppy warm thing and smelt strongly of human. This is her sleeping spot. There were also more sleeping spots here for each of them including one without a smell. Did they all sleep here together?

“Humpf” he huffed to himself as he continued to explore.

Another room was smaller and smelt of faeces. This is their poop spot. This place also smelt of flowers like the other buildings cage did but there were no flowers in the room. Odd. Michael went downstairs again. Wondering what to do with himself. He sniffed the front door for weaknesses he could for escape and he noticed the gap. He tried scrapping at the gap and it moved.

“AHA! Freedom here I come!” he cried with pride as she started scratching furiously until he heard footsteps behind him.

He stopped and looked behind him. The human was watching him but he continued. She seemed flustered and tried to put her arms around him but he was in no mood to be picked up and snarled at her. She backed away and after the human trying to talk to him Lynda arrived to with the others behind her.

“Stop it Michael! You can't get out like that!” Lynda said sternly
“just try to stop me. I'm getting out now!” Michael scratched and scratched.

The human tried to put her arms around him again and he lunged around and bit her. This was the first time he had bit her and he was proud of it. The human looked very flustered and ran into the kitchen. However, Michael could sense something was wrong. He looked down to see Lynda looking very angry. She pounced on him and tried to pin him down but Michael was strong and started to pull her off. But he didn't have the chance as Robert joined in. Robert may be older but a healthy adult woman on him at the same time was too much strength and he was overpowered.

“Don't ever fucking bite her! EVER!” Lynda screamed in anger
“Lynda, easy” Robert soothed. Michael heard crying and turned to see a chubby young boy puppian wailing a short distance away. Lynda sighed deeply and looked back at Michael
“you are on a fine line, Michael” she warned him sternly and then let go along with Robert

Michael backed away and checked his neck as it was pushed against the floor during the scuffle. No damage. He watched as Lynda and Robert wandered over to the crying puppian and held him close in comfort. That must be David that Robert was talking about. He was definitely crying like a child younger than he was. It was clear he was the baby of the pack.

Michael felt a little bad for him but not for the human. She got what was coming to her as she was pushing her luck already. He was obviously at a disadvantage and that was just proven so he kept quiet and wandered away to a quiet spot up stairs to let things blow over. He decided to sit in the bed which didn't smell of anyone. He looked at the other beds and sighed. No matter if he liked it or not. It wasn't just him who was bothered by this. Perhaps it wasn't fair to involve this happy family in his actions. Whether they chose this life or not. They didn't choose for him to be here and he felt a little guilty about that. 

The longer he sat and thought about it in the quiet, the more left out and guilty he felt. He wasn't used to interacting with other puppians much and didn't often feel the need to so these feelings were unfamiliar to him. Eventually, he got up and took a deep breath. He had to apologise and he didn't even know how. He went downstairs to see how things were going.

Lynda was passing in the hall and stopped to meet his gaze. She sighed and continued to walk. Perhaps she would be a good start. He followed her to the room his cage was in. She was busy putting away those weird objects like the ones in the previous human building he was in into a large box. Michael approached but he couldn't find the words. He ended up shuffling his feet and touching the back of his neck at lot as he tried to think of something to say.

“stop sitting there like a lemon and say something if you are going to say it” Lynda said in a stern tone

“I-I...fuck!” Michael still couldn't figure out what to say.

“what? Have you never apologised before?” Lynda said as she turned to face him expectantly

“n-no actually...”
“oh fuck off!” she said dismissantly as she turned round again
“no I'm serious!” Lynda turned back around in confusion
“really? Have you even talked to another puppian before?” she said in pure curiosity
“yes but well barely at all. I was a lone male”
“oh I see. You seriously forgotten how to socialise then? Wow” Lynda said in clear dismay before regaining her composure
“well that's ok then. I guess its the thought that counts. I appreciate you tried” Lynda smiled sweetly. Michael couldn't look at her for too long and he quickly looked away again. 

“hey. Have you ever had a hug before?” Lynda said and before Michael could process what that meant he was in her arms.

The truth was he had never really been hugged like this before or at least not for a very long time. A flood of emotion overwhelmed him as he remembered what it was like to be loved by his mother many years ago. He never realised he missed it until this moment and he started to sob. Lynda was surprised but continued to hold him tight and stroked his back. After a while of sobbing Michael finally let go of Lynda.

“are you feeling better?” Lynda asked with concern still with an arm on his shoulder
Michael smiled weakly “I feel like shit” he joked
“You will for a while after crying so much” Lynda looked around as there was an awkward silence for a few seconds
“do you need anything? Hungry? Thirsty?”
“I could do with a drink actually” Michael smiled a little again and Lynda smiled back.
“Ok. You sit tight and relax. I'll get you the water bowl” and with that Lynda walked away.

For a while Michael stayed quiet, sat and thought and thought and thought some more. He had never felt so vulnerable before and any time he had shown any weakness someone would take advantage of it. It was a pup eat pup world out there but this was different. He wasn't attacked. He was nurtured, cared for, loved. It was a confusing and unfamiliar concept but he certainly wasn't complaining. Even the human didn't get in the way although they seemed to join in the concern.

He couldn't actually remember much of the time he was crying since it was so heavy he could barely even see or hear through his wailing and tears anyway. All he remembered was that everyone was concerned but left Lynda to help him since he was bothered when anyone else touched him. Nevertheless, even though Lynda was the only one comforting him, no one has tried to attack him. If they wouldn't attack him at his weakest then they probably wont attack him at all. There was no point in worrying about being attacked when his back was turned anymore. He at least knew he could trust Lynda and probably the rest of the puppians living here but he still couldn't comprehend trusting the human.

He had experience with humans and they were very confusing and tricky creatures. This little experience, even if it seemed promising, wasn't a sure fire sign he could trust it. He would be wary for a little longer yet but at least he knew he could confide in someone now. For once he didn't feel alone with his thoughts. As lynda passed and smiled he realised this. It felt good to be in a pack. Perhaps he should have done this a long time ago.

Anna could see that Michael was feeling more comfortable with her family and it made her happy. Things were hard at first but it is clear it isn't hopeless yet. Then she saw the time and realised, even though it was a bit early, this would be the perfect time to take them all out for the daily walk. The human called and everyone except Michael came running.

“Hey, what's going on?” Michael said as his casual chat with the others was interrupted 
“Oh sorry Michael. I forgot you don't know these things. The human takes us all out for a walk outside to stretch our legs at least once a day” Lynda explained
“Oh...ok” Michael answered, not sure what to think of this.
“I guess it is good I'm getting fresh air and not stuck in this cave the whole time” Michael said to himself.

Michael saw the human coming towards him with a lead. He knew what this thing was. He growled a little until Lynda's face caught his eye. She looked a little disappointed. Michael didn't want to make her unhappy again and it probably wouldn't lead to anything anyway so he didn't fight this time. Michael noticed the human was pretty happy about this.

“humpf” he huffed to himself when he saw the human's stupid grin
“Don't think you have won yet bud” he said defiantly

Jake was jumping and bouncing around the house with the energy of a toddler high on skittles.

“Walkwalkwalkwalkwalkwalk! YES! FINALLY! WOOOOO!!” he screamed as he jumped on and off all the furniture.

The human seemed distressed at this and grabbed the pup out of the air and began to stoke him and talk to him gently.

“Jake! Calm down buddy or I can't get your lead on you” the human chuckled as she struggled to put the lead on his neck as he was still bouncing a little

Soon everyone was finally ready and it was time to go. Michael squinted a little at the sunlight but the fresh gentle breeze of summer felt so good. He smiled as he remembered how wonderful the outside world was. He would never take it for granted again.

“Jake, easy or you are going to pee yourself” Lynda said sternly
“oh please no. Not again” David said quietly

Michael looked over at Jake which suddenly stopped bouncing and looked pretty sorry for himself. He started to rub the back of his head nervously.

“It was only one time...” Jake said nervously
“and let's keep it that way” Lynda said
“ok...” Jake whimpered
“Can we go now?” Michael whined.

All this messing around was getting on his nerves but just as he said that the human started to move and they were on their way.


Chapter 3 – Family Trip

Michael took great interest in examining everything around him. If he was going to get back home, he would need to know as much as possible about the local area. After all, it would be no use if he escaped only to get caught soon after due to getting lost or getting chased into a dead end.

The humans had some very weird customs. Random humans would just hand food to other strangers for a trade of a useless leaves and some oddly shaped stones. If Michael had a disguise it might be possible to find this green stuff and get free food but that was only a dream. How on earth do they get food so easily anyway? That is one secret Michael did wish he knew the answer to. These stupid humans had become fat and lazy and had no idea how to actually hunt anymore. It was no wonder they were such frail useless creatures and surely being on their back legs all the time mustn't help things.

“Michael?” Lynda enquired. Michael was snapped out of his thoughts
“Oh! Y-yes?” Michael said still with a bit of a daze
“Are you ok? You have just be staring around and saying nothing” she said in concern
“Oh don't worry. I'm just thinking and looking around” Michael said obviously distracted and starting to look away again
“oh yes. I keep forgetting this is all new to you. I can't imagine how odd it must feel” Lynda sympathised
“Oh no, don't worry about it. I'm not scared. Curious more than anything”
“Well humans are indeed curious creatures” Robert added with a smile
“but they invented hot dogs and they are the BEST!” Jake chimed in
“Jake, its rude to butt into people's conversations like that” David scolded him faintly
“oh come on! If you don't join in, how are you supposed to talk to anyone? You know, this is why you find it so hard to talk to pups” Jake responded
“Jake!” Lynda yelled sternly at Jake and he hung his head
“sorry...its true though” Jake said under his voice

David clearly looked anxious as he fidgeted with his paws as he walked. Even though no one else heard that comment he definitely heard it and he was visually affected by it. Michael was looking over at the time and took a mental note.

It wasn't long before they reached a large open clearing with lots of grass and trees but it still didn't feel much like home although it reminded him of it. He was surprised as David, Lynda, Robert and Jake were released into the clearing as the human sat on a wooden bench nearby. Jake of course went mental and ran around like a baby rabbit in spring, Robert went to a shady spot under a tree and lay down and David stood there looking nervous and clueless. Lynda said something to him and they walked away together.

Michael, however, was still stuck here. Why wasn't he released? Probably because the human didn't trust him yet and for good reason. He didn't trust her either! But that still didn't make this any less frustrating and totally unfair! Michael sat there pouting and huffing for a while wondering what to do until he was approached by an older puppian stranger.

“So you are a new one huh?” the old man enquired
“Not for long. I'm working on getting out of here but for now I'm stuck on this stupid rope round my neck” Michael vented
“Ah I see. Were you wild?” Michael sighed “yes. I just want my old life back. Is that too much to ask?”
“Well its not so bad. Domestic life has its perks”
“like what?”Michael said cynically 
“Free food, safety, warmth, health, family”
“humpf” Michael huffed again in disagreement
“Do you prefer to fight for those things?”
“Well no but...at least I'm free then and not forced to do things for these humans”
“What has your human forced you to do?”
“Nothing yet but I bet the human is just trying to build my trust so they can do something later”
The old puppian laughed
“Well you will understand with time. You know, your human is actually more kind and special than most. You will see that soon I'm sure”
“So you call keeping me hostage kind? Yeah right”
“think what you will. It's still early days yet” the older puppian said as he parted ways

Michael stared at the grass as he thought. Why would he say his human was special? What could possibly be so special about this human? They looked just as useless and stupid as the others to him. He stared at the human and stared. The human seemed anxious for some reason and looking away. Michael followed her sight to see some young man coming towards her and waving in a friendly fashion.

“Hey Anna! Fancy seeing you here! I was just doing some shopping and I spotted you and I had to talk to you. I never get much of a chance to talk to you at work. You are always such a hard worker. Moving around all the time I can never catch you. Guess that shows how much you care about those animals hey? Haha!” The man spouted out pretty quickly
“heheh yeah” Anna laughed nervously. Clearly uncomfortable with this meeting.
“Oh this must be that pup I heard you adopted! How is he? Feeling better now he's with you?” 

Anna shuffled anxiously “He's fine” she said faintly as she looked down at her feet
“oh what's the matter? Is he ok?” he said with concern as he got closer but Anna flinched and backed away. Anna looked towards Michael and pushed his back legs a bit. Michael jumped up and looked back with a growl.
“oh look! Michael is getting a little restless. I guess I better walk him around a bit rather than just sitting here” Anna said as she got up to walk away
“Oh let me come with youuuu! We can-”
“No thanks! I need to go!” Anna cut him off and shuffled away pretty quickly

Michael gazed at Anna curiously as they walked to a clearing just out of sight and watched the man walked away. Anna gave a deep sigh. It was obvious she was avoiding him but why? What on earth is wrong with this human? He had never seen a human talk to another that unsociably before. Anna sighed again.

“I'm sorry about that. You hungry buddy?” Anna said as she turned to Michael and bent down to his level.
“what? What do you want?” Michael wondered as she pulled something out of a bag she had with her.

It was a round flat thing but it was softer looking than a rock and light brown and crumbly with dark bits in it. The human handed it to him. He gave it a sniff. Whoa. It smelt delicious! It was sweet smelling. He licked it a little and his eyes lit up. Omg this tastes good! He took a bite and his mind was blown. It was the most delicious thing he had ever eaten in his life! He was in heaven. He also realised he was feeling kinda peckish. Before he had a chance to decide what to do next the human was handing him another and he wolfed it down.

He awed in the wonderful sweet yet savoury flavour, the soft yet crunchy texture. He was so much in wonder he didn't notice for a second that the human was gently petting his head. Suddenly he noticed and jumped back in alarm and growled at her. The human looked disappointed but he didn't care.
“I told you not to do that! Do I need to bite your finger off?!” he yelled at her

“What are you snarling at now?” Lynda said as she purposely sauntered over to him
“Ugh, just the stupid human trying to touch me without warning again. I don't like it”
“well she's just trying to be friendly with you. Petting is a human's way of saying they like you when you are a domestic”
“That's stupid! Why do they think I am going to like my personal space getting invaded with no warning”
“Well remember it is hard for her to. She can't communicate with her own kind very well let alone us as well” Lynda said with a sad tone. Michael suddenly perked up a bit with surprise
“wait. I saw her avoiding another human a minute ago. Does she do that often?”
“yes I'm afraid so. She just doesn't seem to get on with other humans but she loves us very much and tried her best for us and I appreciate that” Michael stared
“heheh I guess you wouldn't understand so well since you have only been here a day or two. Nevermind” Lynda straightened up
“well-” suddenly Lynda was interrupted by a little pups wail. They all turned to see David wailing and pinned to the floor by a bigger older puppian.

“David!” Lynda cried and started running but she soon noticed Michael running in full sprint past her

He was in battle mode and nothing was able to go as fast as him right now. He was focused on that enemy and went straight for them. The puppian didn't even see it coming when Micheal charged into him and shoved him so hard he flew a short distance through the air across the grassy clearing. Before anyone could react a blood curdling screech came out of Michael almost like a demon inside had been awoken. His fur stood on end and he stood firm. His legs were spread in a strong and fierce stance. And as soon as it happened it was over.

The area fell silent for a second as Michael stared down the puppian he knocked down. The puppian soon got back up but was clearly hit rather badly and took a while to stand up. Nevertheless, when he saw and heard the screech he ran off as fast as his legs could take him. When the puppian went into the distance, Michael finally relaxed and turned around. Lynda was hugging the crying David and the others were gathered round including the human. The human then picked them up and rocked them in her arms and stroked him gently on the head as she started walking over to the bench again. Everyone followed, clearly worried about the little David. Michael decided to come with and find out what was going on.

“is he ok?” Michael asked
“Yes. Thanks to you” Lynda said smiling and turning to Michael before giving him a big hug
Michael was taken aback but he didn't push her away.
“I would recommend that you are perhaps a bit less aggressive next time though. It looks like you might have left him with a limp. You are lucky they seemed to be a stray puppian or you might get in trouble for that” Robert advised
“Are you kidding me? You can get in trouble for defending others here? What else am I supposed to do? He was being attacked!” Michael screamed angrily
“I know, I know. Please calm down Michael. We appreciate it don't worry. Don't think about it now. What matters is David. He's very upset”
“I don't see why. He wasn't hurt much right?”
“No but its the shock. He's just a kid. Well, in his head he is”
“I never hung around kids much before let alone any other puppians”
“That's ok. Better leave it to us then. Like I said. Don't worry about it. We got it covered. He need pups he knows and trusts to comfort him right now anyway” 
“ok sure”

Michael went quiet as everyone worked on cheering David up from his shock. Despite doing something so noble, he felt very left out. He felt bad for David although he couldn't completely understand his feelings he was clearly very distressed. Perhaps it was something to do with what happened earlier? Did this happen often? No matter what Lynda said, he couldn't bring himself to stop thinking about it even long after the event had happened and everything had calmed down.