In Alien Hands: Meeting Merle

Meeting Merle

I shuffled my way over to the big trough they filled with "food". I mean, sure. It was edible, but it wasn't like anything I'd enjoyed back home. The metal dish was filled part way with what looked to be fruit, but a single bite of the stuff would make you think it was wet cardboard. It was mushy with hard, tasteless seeds that threatened to break your teeth if you weren't careful.

My cage-mates were all human too, at least as far as I could tell. Most of them had arrived around the same time I did, based on our scared expressions when we all woke up in that terrible cage, being stared at by what appeared to be giant dogs. After talking together, we found we were all normal people with virtually nothing in common, save for our species, of course. Maria said she was a doctor in Italy, George a horse groom in England. I was probably the least extraordinary of all of them, a simple American, fresh out of high school, no job or place of my own.

None of us had seen this coming, as became increasingly clear during the idle chat in the back of the cage. We would sit back there and half cower, knowing many attempt at hiding would be futile. There was nothing to hide behind in our prison, no beds (we spent every night on the dirt floor), not even a single chair or table. We were fully exposed, with no hope of even attempting to hide from the creatures that had caged us.

Now we were in a strange place, surrounded by strange creatures. All of us were locked in a filthy cage, wearing the same clothes thrown to us by those creatures our first day. We had spent over a month stuck in what appeared to be a pet store.

To be perfectly honest, it looked a lot more like an old zoo. There were creatures of different sizes sold here, from a strange mouse to some alien creature the size of a man. We couldn't see these animals at all times, as the cages were positioned so that we couldn't see much, but I caught glimpses of them being lead past when purchased. All I could really see was the old brick of what must have been another prison. If it weren't for the animals leaving and being replaced, I'd have assumed it was some kind of strange zoo.

The beings who walked past our cages were 8 feet tall and standing on two legs. They didn't sound like dogs, but the resemblance was unmistakable. They were covered in fur, had claws instead of nails, canine teeth, ears and a muzzle like a dog. When they walked past us, they'd often stop and look at us. They made cooing sounds like the sort people make when they pass the pet store at a mall. The voice they used was relatively human, but the language seemed impossible to learn.

Like the other people I stayed with, I wasn't terribly fond of my captors. I mean, who likes someone who kidnaps you and stuffs you in a cage? They gave us food and clean water, but we weren't really jumping at the opportunity to trust a kidnapper. Some of the braver people would try to attack whenever a dog-man, as we called them, entered the cage, while most of us stayed as far as possible whenever they came close. They were big, scary, and those sharp teeth cemented our fear.

The day I met Merle was like each one before it at first. We were all herded into a different cage while they picked up the trash and gave us more blankets. Five or six employees worked quickly, as we were put in a much smaller cage while they cleaned. Once we were back from inside we got that cursed fruit and some water for breakfast. Our plates were attached to the bars with ropes and were tough plastic. The ropes were so short that could barely use them, we started ignoring them after the first week and using our hands, despite how dirty they constantly were. According to the guy who was here the longest, a few people had begun pelting the creatures with the plates, and they had been attached to the wall since.

I had always hoped for some clean clothes, though I didn't want to have to change in front of all these people, nonetheless those creatures. The floor was a fine, dusty dirt, it was impossible to keep the clothing clean. We'd been forced into the thin fabric clothing when we first arrived, our old clothes were stripped from us. I'd also have loved a shower, though I doubted that would have any dignity in it either, nor did I expect one to be given any time soon.

Merle didn't seem special when I first met him. He stopped and stared at all of us for several minutes like everyone else. There was something different about him, something small, or at least my desperate mind tried to entertain itself with the idea. However, when he left, he came back with an employee. They talked for some time, with the employee motioning towards us, one by one.

Everyone either became furious or tried to hide when we realized they were speaking about us, we all scrambled desperately around the dusty dirt that made our cage floor. I tried to hide, struggling to find anything that might make it even a little more difficult for the Dog-men to grab me. Another two employees came around the corner outside the cage, and they opened the doors of our prison.

While two of them blocked the angry people, the first employee moved those of us who had hidden, including me, and herded the four us in the tiny cage they locked us in every morning. After we all rushed to the far corner, the first employee approached us. While the first three people ran, I held my arms up to protect myself. I knew at the time that it was futile, but it was all I knew to do at the moment.

The Dog-man grabbed my arms and dragged me out of the small cage, right out into the walkway in front of us. I screamed and fought back tears, but didn't bother to fight. They were huge, with big teeth and strong arms. I curled up in the smallest ball I could, frozen as they lifted me into what I suspected was a metal kennel, void of windows and too small for me to lay or stand in. They tossed a blanket over my cage and I was taken away. I could hear my aggressive comrades yelling while some of the scared ones sobbed.

I feared for my future. I fully expected to be put in a tiny cage and tormented by my captor, perhaps a cage no bigger than the cramped one that prevented me from stretching my limbs at that moment. I'd never see daylight again. I'd likely sleep outside in the cold, alone for all my life. Maybe this monster who had me locked in this crate would eat me. Maybe I was in a grocery store, rather than a pet store. I had to stay positive, a mantra I repeated to myself over and over, until the idea of being eaten was gone from my head. But still, my thoughts weren't pleasant. I decided that I might survive, but I'd never be taken care of when I was sick again, never again have a friend.

Good thing I was dead wrong.

Rewritten 6/19/19