Puppy Paws

Caged

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A flash of light.
Rough human hands.
A bark.
A jab of pain.
All this is familiar. It reminds me of when I was on my way to Master's house.
I struggle to open my eyes but everything seems heavy and sleepy. I feel like I'm falling.
One of my eyes pops open to see nothing but grey. The other eye slowly awakens. Nothing but grey. I cautiously move my left front paw, and it clangs against something cold and hard.

Where am I?

As I become fully aware of my surroundings, I shuffle around, seeking light. My eyes adjust to the dark, and I gasp in surprise. I'm in some sort of cage. A dark cloth is covering it so I can't see outside. But I can still hear and smell. I smell humans and dogs, and a tangy scent I don't recognize. I hear barks and the scrabbling of paws.
"Mama?" I cry out.
There is no answer but more barking.
I am terrified, my heart pounding so loudly I wonder if anyone outside can hear it.
Suddenly, my stomach drops as my cage is lifted up by something. I slide from side to side, my nails scraping the bottom of the cold cage as it swings in the grip of someone... Or something.
An eternity of swinging and nauseating drops and lifts later, I feel my cage being set down.
The grey cloth is ripped off, and I'm blinded by a harsh light.
The noise is deafening.
Whines, yips, helps, barks, howls, and clangs.
As my eyes re-adjust to the light, I look around. Thin shiny bars surround me in the front and one side. At my back and my left is a light brown wall. I guess I'm in a corner.
Next to me a huge crash sounds, and I back up against the opposite bars as another cage is dropped into the space beside my cage. Inside is a hunched figure of a dog. I wait for the other dog to make a move. It's large and black. These cages are really big.
I feel so alone.
I decide to look around and see what I can. I pad over to the front and peer out.
I suck in my breath.
There are so many cages.
My cage is one of many on this side of the long rectangular room. We are stacked up like boxes on a shelf stretching down the length of the room. Across from this side of the room is another long wall of stacked cages.
A thin white shiny floor is far below me, with more fronts of cages underneath my cage stacked up. Wherever I am, it's not very pretty.

Certainly not as pretty as the clearing in the snowy woods.

The dog in the cage across from me stands up, it's back brushing the top of the cage. There is nothing but ceiling above its cage, so I'm guessing that there is nothing above mine either. I watch the dog carefully. It's big and brown. It looks sadly up at me.
It's Rogo.
"Rogo!" I tip over the noise of the other dogs.
"Paws?" he grunts, a hopeful gleam in his eyes.
"It's me!" I sob, so relieved to see a familiar face.
The large black dog in the cage to the right of me looks up at the mention of our names. It's Carazo!
But he doesn't look like the Carazo I know. He looks broken, defeated. It's scary.
"Why are you so sad?" I question him. "We're together! If we're here, the others must be!"
Then I realize how stupid my question was. Carazo the mighty wolf had been taken from his wild home. If I were him I would be sad too!
"I hope you're right, Paws," he sighs. I turn my attention back to Rogo, who is looking at me attentively.
"Can you see who's below me?" I ask. I can't see who is in the cages underneath me because the bottom of my cage blocks the way. Rogo nods and peers down. He barks twice. From below me comes a series of excited yips.
"Skitter," announces Rogo to me. My tail wags once. I strain my eyes towards the cages underneath Rogo. Most of the cages are empty, but two look like they have curled up dogs in them. One dog is golden and one is jet black. I bark at them and sniff, trying to catch a familiar scent. I smell the wild. The golden dog looks up despairingly. Amber's eyes light up when she sees my face.
"Paws! You're here! Is anyone else?"
"Rogo, Carazo, and Skitter." I answer her. "And maybe one more." I bark loudly at the black dog underneath Amber. It stirs. I bark again and the dog leaps to her feet. It's Alice.
"Hi Alice!" I yip at her.
"Paws?" she says incredulously. "Where is everyone?"
"Rogo, Carazo, Skitter, Amber, me and you are here. So far."
"I suspect that we are all close together since we were taken at the same time," rumbles Rogo. I nod my agreement. Carazo doesn't say anything. Rogo goes back to scouring the cages below me and Carazo. I look in the cages below the empty one next to Rogo. Only one dog is there, in the very lowest cage. From the way it's sitting, it looks depressed. No wonder. There is no one next to it on either side. Amber and Alice are further up, below Rogo. It doesn't look like there's anyone across from it either, otherwise it would not be so glum and hopeless. I bark at the dog. It doesn't look up. Maybe it can't decipher my bark from the rest of the noise further down the room. I try again. This time, it's ears pick up. After still more barks, it finally looks up. This dog is Mama, a very miserable version of Mama. A part of her misery disappears when she sees me.
She strains against the bars of her cage, and I mine. I want to cuddle her and lick her nose. I want to bury my face in her neck and cry, but I can't. We are so close and yet so far. There is only one more dog to find. Rogo looks up.
"Larry is down there," he says, nodding below Carazo. "Where's Lady Rosa?"
"Mama is down there," I say, gesturing toward Mama's cage. I bark at her.
"Everyone is here."
"Thank goodness," she replies. A door at the end of the room opens, jolting me out of my momentary happiness.
Three grim looking humans walk in.
I gulp.