Jaxon

Sleep

     The long corridors seem to go on forever. Jaxon was lost. He had to use the bathroom and was now trying to find his way back to the sleeping quarters, but he didn't recognize anything. Everything looked the same to him, it was all gray and all the signs seemed to high up to read.

     Jaxon stood at an intersection and nervously rubbed his hands together. He decided to just pick a hallway at random. He walked for a while before he saw a light reflecting off the wall. He followed it and came across an open door.

     'Finally! I can ask fwor help.' He thought... then scolded himself for talking like a child, even if it was only him who heard it.

     Even though he was only five, he should be talking like an adult. He would've been teased by the others and punished by his commanding officer if they'd heard him. He shuttered a little thinking of the last time they had done that.

     "It's only been a year." A man's voice came down the hallway. It was slightly hushed, but since the corridors were so empty, it echoed. "Three have been cut so far. Is there anyone else that looks like they might not be up to our standards?"

     "I have a list of a few I'd like to cut." Another man's voice answered him. This one Jaxon recognized as his CO. He froze for a moment, knowing that if they heard him, he'd be in a lot of trouble for being out of bed.

     "You can't cut him." The first man said firmly after a moment of silence.

     "Why not?" Jaxon had slowly gotten closer and was at the doorway. Even though he was too scared to go in, his curiosity pushed him to continue listening.

     "You know damn well 'why not'. There are three boys that cannot be on this list... and he's one of them."

     "He's tiny. He'll be lucky if he even makes it another month!" The CO was getting mad. "That boy isn't going to be worth shit! Why are we keeping him on?"

     "That 'boy' will either make the cut or die here at the academy. He can never go back... he has nowhere to go back to. None of those three boys do. That's why." His voice conveyed a firmness in it, saying this was the end of the discussion.

     "If he doesn't get any meat on his bones soon... list or no list, I want him out of my building. Take him back and throw him in a cage if you have to!"

     Jaxon gasped. Were they talking about him? He was the smallest one there...

     Jaxon's head felt funny. He reached up and rubbed it. He felt like he'd been hit with a ton of bricks. The dream was a strange one. He wondered if it had actually been another memory. He was having more of them lately. It started to slip from his mind as he woke up more, just as the last one had.

     He licked his dry lips as he looked around for his drink. It was nowhere to be found. 'That's odd.' He thought as he looked around more.

     As his eyes came into focus, his heart sank to his stomach. He wasn't in his cage... he wasn't even in his room. He wasn't in Hace's room either. Nothing looked familiar.

     'Where am I?' He started to panic slightly. 'What happened? The last thing I remember was having lunch with Hace after I hurt my...' He looked down at his hand and gasped.

     His finger was completely healed! Not even a scar!

     'How the...?' His mind was all over the place. It was jumping back and forth between the fact his finger was healed in less than a day and that he had woken up in a strange place.

     "Hace?" He called out with a shaky voice. He wasn't even sure if Hace was anywhere around. What if he gave him away because he was too much work? Was Hace mad at him for getting hurt? Was he mad at him for pulling off a scale? He didn't seem mad when it happened... What if he was stolen? Does that happen around here? Do they do things like that? Was he worth stealing?

     "HACE!" He screamed out this time.

     Loud footsteps started running towards his direction. Jaxon gave a slight sigh. He knew Hace was coming. It had to be him, right?

     "Ardent? Are you ok?" It wasn't Hace, it was Jap.

     "I hope he wakes up soon." Hace said as he knocked on Jap's door. He was worried that he couldn't get Ardent awake enough to really eat anything that morning. He was glad he was still breathing and had made some sounds earlier. He wondered if the medication was still affecting him.

     Jap finally answered after the third knock.

     "I didn't know you were coming so early." Jap said half asleep still. "I thought you meant like noon." He rubbed his eyes and looked at his brother with a bit of confusion.

     "The earlier I get in the better. I just want to get in there and get out." Hace pushed his way in and looked at the pristinely clean apartment. His brother was always a better housekeeper than him.

     "You're going to be late." Jap said after Hace talked for almost twenty minutes straight about how to care for Ardent. In reality, he just wanted Hace to leave already so he could go back to sleep for a bit longer on his day off.

     "I have plenty of time, I need to make sure you were listening."

     "Don't worry so much. I haven't killed Twitch yet," He joked as his mind started to wake up more. "Ardent will be just fine."

     "Fine." Hace sighed as he handed over his sleeping pet. "Just make sure he has something to drink at all times. His medication dries him out... Oh! Did I give you...?"

     "Yes. It's in the bag you gave me AND you also told me when to give it to him and how much to give him."

     After Hace left, Jap wasn't actually as confident as his acting made him out to be. Truth was, he was nervous about taking care of Ardent. Twitch was already a handful, being scared of everything. He wasn't even sure why he agreed to help out with Ardent. He was just being a good brother he guessed.

     Twitch walked up to him rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked so cute first thing in the morning, with his little yawns and sleepy face. When he spotted Ardent, he walked up to Jap and yipped out something that sounded sad.

     "He's just asleep buddy." Jap said trying to make himself and Twitch feel better. "We're gonna let him sleep on my bed, ok?"

     Jap laid Ardent on his bed and went to the kitchen to start a fresh pot of koofee. Twitch looked at Ardent one more time, but quickly followed Jap. Twitch had started doing that almost immediately after Hace left on the first day. He acted almost like he was scared to let Jap out of his sight.

     Jap hated when he had to go to work the next day and came home to a stressed-out Twitch. He wasn't sure what his pet did all day, but he was in almost the same spot he left him. It looked like he hadn't eaten or drank anything. Jap was gonna have to take him back to the vet and ask about his behavior.

     It was only day three, but Twitch just seemed so attached to Jap. If attached was the right word. It was more like, dependent on him, but at the same time wanted his independence. He would whimper if Jap wasn't in his sight, but at the same time, he didn't seem to want Jap petting him or picking him up. It was just so strange. Then again, Twitch had obviously been abused, so he was going to act differently.