dawn

He edged ever closer to them. He was sure which it was. One second it looked like one, the other, like another. He was now dangerously close to it. To its credit, it did not sway. Of course, the cargo should be reason enough for the cages to be fixed on tightly. But here, it was never enough. Never reason enough. He was dangerously close to it. All it had to do was to brake a little harder than was polite. Bump. That’s what would happen. From here, he noticed that it was alive. It was not asleep. The eyes were half shut, is why it had looked that way to him. It was drowsy. Not for one second had he considered that it was drowsy because this was still predawn. What was more likely was that it was tired, and had given up. He averted his eyes. Tried to. They wouldn’t leave the cages. They looked like they had enough space. When he looked closer, he saw that they were so tightly crammed that… well, he started to feel constructed, and the effects of claustrophobia just thinking about it. Bike started to form in his throat. His lungs started to beat faster. His heartbeats rose. He felt the walls of his car caving in. He went around, all this had taken less than a few minutes, mine yoh. He went around, not willing to let this sight go just yet. He stayed level with the car, and the cages filled with these poor creatures. Another had a neck jutting out limply, a ragdoll as the car moved over speed breakers. He sighed and drove on.

Thirty minutes later, he was biking. He had left his car by the side of the road. There was a nice wind blowing. A bead of sweat trickled down the left side of his face. He was a little nervous. There was hurtling traffic behind him, and even though it was dawn time, the unpredictability of the traffic was a scary and dangerous thought. He looked to the left, and all around. As he biked by the lane, there was a kitten lying on the ground. A few yards away. It was sleeping, peacefully stretched out. He got closer. It was rigid. It’s mouth was opened in a hiss. It’s paws were out in front of it. It was matted with dirt. He knew it would not wake up. It brought a sad smile to his face. At least someone had done it the decency of placing it on the side of the road. At least, it wouldn’t be crushed by moving traffic.

On the way back, there was a line of trees that he was passing. Trees in a sunken clearing by the side of the road. The height of the clearing marked by bushes. From the bushes popped one dog, and then another. The first had nipples that were hanging loose. It had just given birth. The second had his tongue out, his balls swaying in between his hind legs.