ac; feeding dogs; steel door

The steel door was loud, beckoning. Glistening. Unfortunately, there was no crevice or handle he could use to try to push it. He didn’t know if it would move at all from this side. He knew what was on the other side, and because of it, he saw flashes from how he got here.

They had been in the car. He had really wanted to hold her hand. He had an almost overwhelming urge to look at her. Instead he looked out the window. They were almost there. Wide, open fields. Barley and wheat growing by the barrel. Dirty water in small canals that went nowhere. Stray dogs running around, tails in equal parts up, and cautiously down, whenever a car passed them by, or some humans that smelled angry and like they wanted to lash out at the world. He grabbed hold of his right hand with his left. He began to scratch it slowly so she did not read his mind and figure out what he had wanted to do.

Water dropped constantly from nearby. It was dimly lit, he could not find the entrance or fixture where the light was coming from. But it existed somewhere. The room was larger than he had expected. But it was still enclosed on all four sides. He felt a sudden suffocation. He began to inhale large gulps of air. It didn’t help. He sat down, pushed his back against the wall. He winced, it was cold, and damp. He closed his eyes, and began to breathe in deeply.

They had arrived and began to lug out some of the food. They had scattered it around a piece of land that didn’t stand out from the others. Arbitrary. Some dogs began to approach warily. The two of them walked back to the car. And sat in silence. It was not awkward.

He wondered how she was on the other side of the steel door. Scared? He wondered if he should call out. If he did, they would assume. He remained silent instead. The drip was the only sound. He could see his chest rising and falling, but that was a small motion. The sickness in his stomach was gone. He wondered if they were watching. Undoubtedly.

They had chatted lightly, cheerily. He had felt that feeling again. Then they had left and walked out back towards where they had left the food. There were dogs in scores there now. Eating ravenously. He wondered if the little ones would be allowed to eat by the bigger ones. They walked around. People were standing and staring. Some of them even had dogs in cages that were silent. They had probably been trapped a while. He wondered if he should try to get them freed but then he stopped his thoughts midway. It might end up worse for all involved. Best not to interfere.

They were undoubtedly watching. Him, and her. Especially her. Hoping she would do something. He knew them. He had grown up here. It made him angry.

The food had finished. They went back to the car to put out more. “Maybe we should just drive the car closer, instead of hauling the food all the way.” She smiled and nodded. They went there, dropped off the food. Their hands touched back in the car. A moment of electricity, rekindled.

And they were here. Fucking conservative country.