Icy Hell

My brothers and sisters don't remember as much as I do. They don't remember our mothers perfectly white fur as we nestled into her in that cramped cage. They don't remember the big man with the angry face as he yanked mother out of the cage and tossed her aside. They don't remember the way he picked us up, one by one, and dumped us in a small box that barely had room to move.

They don't remember the angry man carrying us to his big transportation device that I later learned was called a car. They didn't remember as he roughly shove us on one of the seats and started driving. They didn't remember the words he said; the names he called us.

Mutts.

Worthless.

Pathetic.

He drove for so long. He drove until the sky grew dark and the scenery changed from tall green trees and blue skies to yellow grass and lonely plains. He skidded to a stop, roughly unchained himself from the seat, and reached over, picking us up. That part, I remember very clearly.

They don't remember any of it. The first thing they remember is falling, falling, falling and then landing on the painful ground that snapped our limbs and bruised our bodies.

My brothers scream still echoes in my mind to this day, as he hit the ground and a sickening snap filled our ears. The angry man had thrown the box we were placed in, out of his car.

The box fell to the side and the runt of the litter, Shorty, tumbled out. He stayed out in the cold as we all crowded around Jack as he whimpered pitifully as he lay on his side. His leg was bent at an awkward angle.

Jack cried all day for the next few days as we huddled in that box. The only time we wasn't whimpering and yelping was when the pain was so great that it made him pass out. With Jacks injury, we couldn't try to go find better shelter and we were too young to even consider leaving him to die.

As for Shorty, he stayed outside of the box, sending hateful glares at Jack like it was his reason he was out in the cold, even though we tried coaxing him back in. He even tried howling out, begging for us to come tend to him, but from what we could see, Shorty was not injured and Jack needed our help. So we stayed out.

After days of waiting, hungry and cold, help finally arrived. We weren't even really waiting for a saviour, we just knew we couldn't help ourselves. Our help came in the form of a little girl, who was 'running away' as we later found out. Apparently a lot of human children her age did that.

When she saw us, her little hands went to cover her mouth and she paused only a moment before rushing to our help. She was holding a bag that fell to her side and was soon forgotten as she carefully picked Shorty up and tucked him in her shirt.

It didn't take her very long before she realized that one of us was injured. She carefully picked up the box and slowly tilted it so the open end was facing up instead of to the side. She left her bag stranded on the middle of the road, knowing that she couldn't carry both us and it back home.

The girl went as fast as she could without jarring the box too much. Still, a small child is not coordinated and Jack let out a yelp every time the box shook. Shorty was hanging out of the girls shirt, his front paws hanging out of the neckline while looking extremely comfortable.

Soon enough, the girl was scrambling up her porch steps, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Ma! Ma, get out here quick!" she hollered out as she attempted to open the front door while holding the heavy box that contained me, my two brothers and two sisters.

"Roxanne? What is it, honey?" an older version of the girl stepped out of the house. When she peered into the box, her reaction was much like Roxanne's.

Ma's hand slapped across her mouth as she took a single step forward, peering back into the box again. "Roxy, baby, where'd you find them?"

"Out on the road while I was runnin' away!" Roxanne explained in a rush, "can we keep em, Ma? Please?"

I didn't really understand what she meant by 'keep us.'

Ma still looked dazed as she carefully took the box from Roxanne and led her into the house. She set the box on the kitchen table and called for someone else. "Dave, get in here!"

"What?" A deeper voice screamed from another room, making me cower. At the time, I had thought the voice was terrifying.

"Roxanne ran away!" Ma called back as she one by one, picked us out of the box and placed us beside Shorty on the table. She reminded me a lot of the sweet looking lady that had taken us away from our mother in the first place. It was a bittersweet memory.

"Again?"

"Just get in here!" Ma yelled, "and bring a blanket!"

A large, burly man revealed himself with a fluffy blanket in one hand and a frown plastered on his face. "What did we do to her this-"

Dave cut short when he lay his eyes on us. His frown turned into a glorious smile as he exclaimed, "Puppies!"

It was only moments later that Dave had wrapped all of us, other than Jack, in the blanket and had cozier us up in front of a fire; at the time I didn't know that fire could be dangerous but it was warm so I didn't even think that it would be able to cause destruction in my future. After those days, living with Ma, Roxanne and Dave, I never saw fire as something to find comfort in.

And I didn't exactly stay with them for long.

I wrapped my snowy, white tail around my body and huddled deep into the blanket, letting the warmth of the fire sink into my fur. My sisters, Dewey and Phoenix cuddled up to me and Shorty and Truman up to them.

Roxanne came in, with a bowl of mushed up food and warmed milk and started feeding us until our tummies couldn't hold any more. It was the most we had ever eaten in our lives and the feeling was phenomenal.

Everyone else fell asleep almost immediately, for we hadn't gotten any rest for the past few days and it was a miracle that we were even alive. But I couldn't sleep. There was a new man in the kitchen where Jack lay on the table. He had arrived shortly after we finished eating.

I hadn't been paying very close attention on them at the time, but if I recall correctly, Dave had somehow summoned the man through the black box. To this day, after seeming many of those boxes in different forms (apparently they were called 'phones') I still do not understand what they are for.

I couldn't see what the man was doing but I heard what he was saying, even though he was speaking in a hushed voice. "I've sedated him, but honestly, I don't think he's going to make it through the night."

"What do you mean?" Ma asked.

"The break is severe, he is malnourished and its a miracle that he-that any of them-are even alive. My guess is that they were born in a puppy mill, they're only a couple of months old, maybe six, and if they were any younger, they would have died already." the man explained, even though I understood none of what he was saying.

"A puppy mill?"

"They're like mass breeding grounds for dogs. A lot of the time, the dogs are shoved into cages that are barely big enough to fur one dog. The mills are overcrowded and the puppies rarely, if ever, leave their cages." Ma gasped at that, "Because of this, the puppies sometimes don't develope right and there have been many cases of the dogs having health and mental problems."

Dave cleared his throat before he spoke, "Now what do you mean by 'mental' problems?"

"There's a chance these puppies grow up to be vicious. There's not much you can do about it." the man said. "If they start to show signs of bad behaviour, bring them to a shelter. They'll take proper care of them there."

"Okay, but what about Jack? You said he might not make it," Ma reminded the man.

"Yes, I'll put him on medication and I can give him a cast and neck cone, but just be prepared if he doesn't make it it through the night," the man said. "It's going to cost a pretty penny though, you do realize this?"

There was a pause before Dave answered, "these dogs have been through so much. God knows how long they've been out there. The least we can do is give them a chance at life. We'll pay for the bill."

The man still seemed doubtful about the answer, "Okay, I'll bring this little guy to the clinic and you can pick him up in a couple of days. Have you decided on a name, by the way?"

"I was thinking Jack. We'll let Roxy name the rest of them in the morning. Thank you so much, Dr. Keith!" Ma exclaimed. "I don't know what we'd do without you!"

"It's all part of the job, Mrs. Fenley," The man, Dr. Keith responded, "I'll hopefully see you soon."

"Of course, goodbye Dr. Keith," Ma sighed and moment later, I heard the front door swinging shut.

After the man had let, I finally felt myself start to relax. The fire had pretty much died down and all that was left was hot embers and ash. But I was still laying snug in my blanket.

At the time, I thought that this would be the life for me. I thought I would live forever here with Ma, Dave and Roxanne; sleeping by the fire in a warm blanket, being hand fed food by Roxanne and living the comfortable lifestyle.

Looking back at the time, I wonder how naive I could have been. My life was nothing like I expected it to be.