Name and All: Part Two

     Looking up to my owner, my eyes widening in terror, I asked, “What are we doing here, Adam?”

     His cold eyes stared down at me. I flinched at those eyes, which felt like they were looking right through me. “I’m not a newbie here anymore, but no one takes me seriously with a name like Adamanche626, or a pet named Amaya_2345. It’s much better to have a name without numbers or weird symbols, so I’m gonna start over with a better name, and better named pets.”

     Incredulous to what was happening, I yelled, “That’s what this is about?! I love this name, because you gave it to me; who cares what anyone else thinks?”

     Trying to hold back my tears and calm my owner, I pleaded with him, “Let’s go home, Adam. We’ve always been together; you can’t seriously want to abandon me over something like this.” With a weak smile, I looked up to meet his gaze. How sad it was, that I could believe those words at this point.

     “I was just a stupid kid then, and making you was a mistake!” Adam bellowed, towering over me. I cowered beneath him, my eyes starting to tear up on their own. When did he become this kind of person? When did my kind, goofy owner become so cold?

     A few passersby, hearing the commotion, started to gather and look upon the scene we were creating. Most of them were staring at Adam, their disapproving looks sharper than any sword in Neopia. It seemed they knew what was going to happen to me, and no one was happy about it. Drops of sweat began to roll down Adam’s forehead, and he nervously grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and pulled me into the rotting half of the building.

     Scowling at me, he said in a low voice, “This is where you’ll be staying. At least someone might adopt you here, so be thankful I didn’t just leave.” In disgust I turned my head away from him, trying to hide my tears.

     From the shadows of the dilapidated room came forth a yellow Techo; his long hair was graying, and he wore a white lab coat. From the corner of my eye I saw a name tag that read “Dr_Death.”

     I wonder if he was abandoned here for the same reason, I thought with bitterness.

     The haggard Doctor, with a look of indifference, merely took me from my owner’s hands and unceremoniously dumped me into a nearby kennel. Suddenly being closed in such a small space, my fur raised and my heart began pounding in my ears; I needed to get out. I frantically threw myself against the cage walls, trying to break free. But my efforts only caused the others' cages around me to shake, waking up their captives within. Their cries began to emanate from their mesh prisons, sending me into a frenzy. I tried biting into the wire cage, and pulling at it until it dug deep into my skin, but to no avail.

     I was feeling faint from these occurrences, so the last image of my owner that I saw was his feet as they walked out through the splintering doorway. Hearing a loud slam of the door, I couldn’t help but close my eyes as the door closed behind him. I eventually fell into a fitful sleep, tears still streaming from my face.

      I woke up surrounded by darkness. My small body ached from having slept on the cold hard floor.

     Lifting my head up from the ground, I tried to take in my surroundings as best as I could. But all I could hear were whines, whimpers, and stifled crying from the other cages. There must have been hundreds of us there in the dark, and yet I had never felt so alone. It was like their voices were so desperate to reach someone, anyone, who would hear them. But no answer came in the dark; save for the howling of the Lupes, the Pteris’ screeching, and the Hissis’... whatever you call that weird sound they make.

      I felt so afraid, never being enclosed by so many Neopets at once. The walls of my cage felt so small, that I could hardly breathe. My small paws clung to my cage door tightly as I tried to calm down, but I was so overwhelmed that I couldn’t help but cry out too. I cried for the dear friend I had lost, and for those days of happiness that now seemed so far away.

     Suddenly, I heard a click, then a faint buzzing. Lights overhead burst on in an unnatural glow. The yellow Techo with wizened hair walked in, pushing a big metal cart in front of him. Despite the other pet’s screaming, he just worked on, shoving plates under the cages of each pet. The Doctor hunched over his cart as he moved along, sighing ever so often, and pushing away any Pets that tried to grab onto him without so much as a glance.

     As he came to my cage I too tried to appeal to him, yelling out, “Please save me, I need to get out of here!” But like with all the others, he took a plate from his cart and shoved it under my cage door. I looked at the plate with agitation: for it held only 1/3 of an omelette, hardly enough to feed any Neopet. But I ate it just the same. From my lips I uttered, “You’re the best owner in the whole world!” I covered my mouth quickly in realization. What a habit it had become to say such things, when Adam had brought new toys to play with or delicious new foods to try. Now those words, so easy to say, left a bad taste in my mouth. Not to mention made my stomach feel a lot emptier.

     How much time had gone by in the pound, I couldn’t say, but it felt like years. Without fresh air or being able to play, I saw my body grow weak and gaunt. Without proper food, I saw my fur grow thin and dull. Without love, I felt my heart grow hard as time passed, alone in that miserable cage.

     The worst part of this place was when an owner came looking to adopt a pet. The Doctor took us, three at a time, through a door that connected the pound to the adoption agency, where the lovely Pink Uni lived. It was as cozy and cheerful as one could imagine, filled with plush chairs, a table for tea, and vases full of flowers from her garden. The Pink Uni, Rose I believe her name was, would brush us up, give us something to eat, and show us in front of the potential adopter. In the beginning I was full of hope, eyes glistening at the thought of a new life, far away from this place. But the owner would look at my name, and quickly move on to the next pet. Rose would then slowly walk us on over to the other half of the building, and with a sad smile whisper, “It’ll be alright, we’ll find a home for all of you someday.” But the sad look on her face told me that the day we all hoped for could take a lifetime to come.

     Pushed roughly back into my cage by the Doctor, I felt my stomach growl already. I checked my status: dying, it said. With a sigh, I quietly wondered if there was a level of hunger after that.

     One day, I was pulled out of my cage and brought to the adoption half of the building, along with two other Neopets. As Rose brushed at my thinning fur, she whispered “Good luck!” to me. But I couldn’t let myself care anymore. I had gotten my hopes up so many times and had them broken that I couldn’t take it any more. If I no longer cared, then I could no longer get hurt. At least, that was the lie I told myself everyday, as owner upon owner looked me up and down and walked away each time.

     There was nothing overly amazing about this owner; she was of average height for her kind, and had short, brown hair and matching eyes. I saw her look at a list of our information, just like all the others. As she walked towards me, I knew her eyes were reading my name from the list, and I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t see her walk on by, like all the others.

To be continued...