Apartment 2236

Her long middle, moving up and down as air moves in and out. Her alert ears that decided to stay up one day, still stay up even though the rest of her stays lying; A sign her sleep is not deep, they stay alert, open to waking sounds. The energy in her abounds even in her sleep. She sighs a sigh of boredom, embracing resting now, knowing it's the quickest thing that will bring her back to playing. For she knows that when she wakes, the ball will roll and doggy bones will break. Hands will pat, and words will ring. The leash will come and bring her out, bring her out to seldom seen light, and a seldom seen cat. That cat, she knows, will pounce on out when she begins her short lived "potty" route. Although she knows she'll never be the dogs she's seen who get to hunt big, she tries each time to chase that cat, to chase that bird, maybe even that rat. But they all stay free, the thing she wishes to be. "Back inside" her masters say, and she expects "kennel" to be said next. Kennel is spoken, and without being hesitant, she walks inside the little caged cave. Latches are locked, and lights turned out. Masters say "bye" and then walk out the door. Then comes the laying, turning, chewing. What must a pup do with empty black space and cold wired walls? Her toys just out of reach, she looks for anything else to chew; a blanket within reach through the bars, anything soft will do. No blanket found, she convinces herself her tail is another's. She chews and bites, until it hurts so much she must move on to the paws. she continues to chew, nip, and bite herself until her energy wears out.. but that was a long time since her energy abounds even in sleep. A long enough time to chew her self down to the bone, and fill the kennel with bleeding puppy paws, legs, and mangled tuffs of hair. Enough time for enough hair to be blowing up and out to the bedroom in the tissue-stenched air. It happened to her, a normal dog- driven to madness when anything but a normal dog life was what she got in apartment 2236.