It is so quiet here in the desert. Once in awhile I can hear the yip of a Wild One and catch a whiff of his free life out there in the parched hills and gullies.
All of us here are damaged. We would not last too long out in The Wild, without masters to feed us. But some of us would dearly like to try.
The Gentle Master stirs again, and I wonder if she can dream like I do. And of what would she dream?
Soon after the Stern Men took the Big Master, the Gentle Master came and took us away. I liked her from the start. Her scent was so soft, and she spoke subtle nonsense while holding me for what seemed like days. I was sore and hurting, and she tended me even better than the Big Master had in the beginning. I wagged my tail, and for the first time in ages, I meant it.
And now I am here, far away from fighting and Stern Men, with plenty of food and water and treats. The Gentle Master sleeps nearby me often but not always. I understand that she must go away sometimes, even if I do not like it. But I know she will return and play with me and take me for walks. We all know we are in a better place here than we were before. No one ever will make us fight each other here. The Gentle Master sleeps quietly.
I love her.
And I slowly relax in this kind new world around me and slip away. Knowing that whatever nightmares come to me in the night, I will awaken safe and warm. Free in the love of The Gentle Master.
Michael A. Clark lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA and works in industrial automation, while spending as much time as he can outdoors. His stories have been published in Galaxy’s Edge, Liquid Imagination, Mystery Weekly Magazine, and Gypsum Sound Tales, the anthologies Colp and Thuggish Itch, as well as the benefit anthology Burning Love and Bleeding Hearts.