I stumbled out into the sunshine and struggled to find my
bearings. William led me firmly by the
leash to a pickup parked near the house.
Without letting go of my tether he lifted a dog cage out of the bed of
the truck and tossed it onto the ground next to me.
“You should relieve yourself before I secure you for the
trip,” he said. He led me to the side of
the truck so the vehicle no longer blocked my view of the street. I knew what he wanted – he wanted me to squat
in full view of the neighbors. I pleaded
with him to let me go behind the truck but he ignored me. “It’s a long trip and you won’t have another
chance to go. If you foul or soil the crate I will beat you and you will not
enjoy it.”
I whimpered as I squatted in the driveway. The sound of my bodily fluids pouring onto
the gravel driveway was so humiliating I wanted to die. I tried to turn my head away from the street
but William grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked my head around. I saw a couple staring at me as they walked
past the entrance to the estate.
When I was finished peeing, William dragged me toward the
crate and opened the small door. I had
severe doubts that I could manage to squeeze into the crate itself but the
opening looked completely inadequate. I
looked at William in a panic. He picked
up the crate and lifted it over my head.
“Lift your arms,” he said.
I put my hands over my head as if I was being apprehended and William
fit the crate over me like I was being fitted for a tight gown. I curled my hands and ducked my head as he
lowered the crate over my body. As the
entrance descended to my waist I started curling up inside of it and William
tipped it over onto the gravel. I had to
work to get me knees past the entrance but I finally managed it and William
jammed my feet firmly inside as I squeezed into the inadequate space. I felt the door close on my toes and heard
the lock snap shut. I could barely breathe.
William lifted me into the bed of the truck and slammed the
rear gate shut. I was face down with my
knees pinned up under me and the wire grates that lined exterior of the cage
dug into my skin. I began to panic as I
realized that I would have to endure this unbearably cramped space for the
duration of the trip to wherever I was going.
The smell of the steel and dirt of the bed of the pickup filled my
nostrils and I choked on the dust. The
sun blazed down on my back and the heat from the truck radiated on all sides. I
broke into a sweat immediately, as much from fear and panic as from the heat.
I didn’t hear William climb into the cab of the pickup but I
felt the vehicle lurch forward when he hit the gas. My cage slid back into the tailgate and
tipped over so now I was no longer faced down but on my side. Although this was a much less painful position
for the journey, the hot metal of the truck bed scorched my torso as my weight
pressed my flesh through the wire sides of the dog crate. I squirmed to relieve the pressure and the
pain of my predicament but the crate jostled from one side of the truck bed to
the other as William turned from the driveway onto the street and accelerated. I couldn’t tell if the hot metal of the truck
bed was just burning my skin or scraping it away as the crate slid back and
forth.
It was going to be a long trip.
