27
It was the noise from the direction of the house that brought John out of his slumber. High pitched squeals and laughter echoed up the trail. Car doors closing, one after the other it seemed followed by good cheered laughter and talk.
What the hell was going on now, John thought. He sat up and assured himself with a glance that the padlocked still hung on the gate and he was still imprisoned in the kennel cage. All he could do was sit back and listen.
A short time later, after the sounds had subsided into the house, they started again. This time with the addition of the distinct sound of pool activity, agitated water splashing on concrete. Saturday evening and the holiday making at the Hagan home had commenced.
He and the other dogs still had not been fed for the evening and John wondered where Manuel was.
"It's Manuel's day off," Valerie answered the silent question after having pushed the wheeled cart up the trail. She fed the two other dogs from it and left their kennel doors open. The dogs wanted to run out the door, but they also wanted to finish eating. It amused John to watch their indecision, but in the end, their bellies won. Once the last traces of food were gone from their bowls, the dogs made their way out the kennel gates and raced out of sight toward the merrymaking. That's when Valerie unlocked the gate to John's kennel cage.
"Every Saturday afternoon Manuel takes time off. Randy or I feed you dogs. It was actually Randy's turn this weekend, but for obvious reasons," she said pointing the spoon at John, "I made sure to do it."
She wore a red bikini under a blue house shirt, her figure showing through. "I brought you a treat for dinner, puppy," she said as she unwrapped items and mixed the contents in his bowl. She picked it up and sat it down on the packed dirt in front of John. "The leftovers from the Hagan family's drive through, fast food meal experience."
She stood up, hands on hips looking down at him with a smirk. "Can't even eat without my permission, can you?" She hesitated for that to sink in before she began to unclasp the head harness. "I warn you, keep your mouth shut and full of food. Not a sound."
With his mouth free, he obeyed and munched down on the contents of the dog bowl. Half eaten hamburgers, half dried ketchup smeared french fries. Lettuce and a portion of corn dog mixed in for good measure. It was a relief to eat something so attuned to human taste buds. At the moment, he didn't really care who had half eaten it, what dirty fingers had handled it, or where it had been.
Between bites, John could hear Randy down by the pool saying something to the other two dogs now mingling among them. Squeals of delight followed as water splashed about.
"Family night," Valerie said, looking in the direction of the house with a certain sense of satisfaction. Looking back at John and cocking her head she said, "Too bad you are such a freak of nature, Frisky. You could come play too if you weren't such a show stopper." She punctuated her remark with the protrusion of her bottom, pouty lip.
He said nothing as he finished up his evening meal. Unfolding a towel she held up the two gags. The muzzle gag he had just been wearing and the ball gag supplied by himself and Ashley. "I've got two choices tonight. The ball gag, which I don't want to mess up your beautiful dental work, and the muzzle." Putting the one down on the cart she proceeded to put the ball gag over his head. "But with this you can drink through the straw in the ball and I don't have to wait to get back to my family."
Ball gag secured, the padlock re-locked on the kennel cage gate, Valerie pushed the cart down and around the bend, the thick foliage consuming her image.
John had nothing but time to listen. Listen to people, real people living their lives. How had he been so reluctant to ever truly embrace being human and the freedoms that go with it? It was as if his dog like nature, the submissive side of him always fought back against the possibilities of a normal life. The dog/slave in him constantly sabotaged any chance of living up to societal expectations.
It could be said that he was living his dream. A dream that alienated him from the rest of the world. Even his last memories of Ashley were her rejecting him as a dog/slave. In contrast Valerie forced him to embrace his dog/slave nature which he could not help but do in his current state. It wasn't hard.
