A Different Dog Rescue Story
This story was inspired by a story request “Dog Rescue” viewtopic.php?p=213773#p213773
When I saw the title, I immediately had the inspiration to the following story. Only when I read the actual request I noted that my story idea had taken a completely different direction.
First let me fit this within the timeline of the other Katja stories:
Katja's teenage TUGs: viewtopic.php?p=207531#p207531
Katja's adult journey: viewtopic.php?p=212321#p212321 ADULT!
Katja is married now. I’ve finally started clearing out her old room in the cottage in order to turn it into a regular guest room. While doing so, I came across some of her personal things. I kept a few, returned others to her. And then there was this large green notebook. Back then, when Katja spent her summer holidays with me and when the weather was too bad to play outside, she would write her stories into it. She never showed them to me. And during the ten months until the next summer, I never looked inside — that was the trust between us. I only knew that her stories revolved around her own imaginative TUG interests, because she drew inspiration in her very own way.
It was in the summer when she insisted in wearing this stupid dog collar. viewtopic.php?p=206539#p206539
Her story writing followed a familiar routine: Whenever she wanted to write, she'd prepare everything on the kitchen table: the notebook, pens, an eraser, something to drink. Then she'd take the leash from its peg in the hallway, would come to me quietly, leash in her mouth. Following the rules of a game she herself had invented, I'd clip the leash in her collar, lead her to the kitchen table and tie the leash to one of its legs. Only a simple, merely symbolic knot. Of course she could have untied the leash anytime, or unclip it from her collar, or take off that silly collar altogether - but she didn't. She'd remain at the table until I chose to untie her. And when I'd talk to her, she'd only answer "Woof" (yes) or "Woofwoof" (no).
To be honest — among us fathers working from home — who wouldn’t appreciate a setup like that?
In her green notebook I found many different stories. Some are unfinished, some awkward, some inappropriate — but some are simply too good not to share. Like the following, slightly unsettling story:
Website Migration Update
I moved the website to a new host, which I think will be more tolerant of the content this website hosts. Nevertheless, I do want to take a moment to remind everyone that the stories and content posted here MUST follow website rules, as it it not only my policy, but it is the policy of the hosts that permit our website to run on their servers. We WILL continue to enforce the rules, especially critical rules that, if broken, put this sites livelihood in jeapordy.
*CALLING FOR MORE PARTICIPATION*
JUST A SMALL ANNOUNCEMENT TO REMIND EVERYONE (GUESTS AND REGISTERED USERS ALIKE) THAT THIS FORUM IS BUILT AROUND USER PARTICIPATION AND PUBLIC INTERACTIONS. IF YOU SEE A THREAD YOU LIKE, PARTICIPATE! IF YOU ENJOYED READING A STORY, POST A COMMENT TO LET THE AUTHOR KNOW! TAKING A FEW EXTRA SECONDS TO LET AN AUTHOR KNOW YOU ENJOYED HIS OR HER WORK IS THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE THAT MORE SIMILAR STORIES ARE POSTED. KEEPING THE COMMUNITY ALIVE IS A GROUP EFFORT. LET'S ALL MAKE AN EFFORT TO PARTICIPATE.
JUST A SMALL ANNOUNCEMENT TO REMIND EVERYONE (GUESTS AND REGISTERED USERS ALIKE) THAT THIS FORUM IS BUILT AROUND USER PARTICIPATION AND PUBLIC INTERACTIONS. IF YOU SEE A THREAD YOU LIKE, PARTICIPATE! IF YOU ENJOYED READING A STORY, POST A COMMENT TO LET THE AUTHOR KNOW! TAKING A FEW EXTRA SECONDS TO LET AN AUTHOR KNOW YOU ENJOYED HIS OR HER WORK IS THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE THAT MORE SIMILAR STORIES ARE POSTED. KEEPING THE COMMUNITY ALIVE IS A GROUP EFFORT. LET'S ALL MAKE AN EFFORT TO PARTICIPATE.
Dog Rescue, but different [Katja #16] (FM/fm)
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Jenny_1972
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 147
- Joined: 5 months ago
Dog Rescue, but different [Katja #16] (FM/fm)
Last edited by Jenny_1972 4 days ago, edited 3 times in total.
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Jenny_1972
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 147
- Joined: 5 months ago
(Please forgive her any mistakes that Katja has made regarding the proper handling of dogs; she has never had a pet.)
Part 1
Veruca was a spoiled brat. Her father said so, her mother said so, her elder brother Thomas, her teacher and most of the girls she'd hang out with. Probably they were right, Veruca thought. Not a full-fledged bitch or slut yet - nobody dared to call her that - but on her way. At 14 years she hadn't a pound too much on the scale, had long blond curls and a smile that she knew how to use to her advantage. And she no longer had to stuff her bra; although sometimes - when she deemed it beneficial - she still would.
At this weekend, the first of her school holidays, she was alone at home. She had hoped to go on a summer camp in New England, but her father declined it due to her declining school grades. Her parents, both running a small electric installation business, had left a few days for a trade show out of state. Her hitherto baby sitter had refused to look after her any more, declaring she was as baby sitter, not a brat sitter - which is rude because she got paid. And Thomas, her brother, whom his parents had ordered to look after her, had left the house a few hours ago to meet with some friends. She was alone at home. After sleeping long she watched some TV, but the few channels her parent's TV could receive were all boring.
She donned her blue pleated skirt and her pink crop top. Her parents considered this outfit way too short. Her brother didn't mind. And his soccer friends - should he bring them home - certainly not. Then she went into her parent's bedroom, sat down at the vanity. One by one she tried most of her mother's makeup. But she soon discovered that when it came to makeup, her mother – as with so many things – prioritized price over quality. She had just removed her makeup for the second time when she heard some noise from the living room. Probably her stupid brother. Just as she was about to try some blue mascara the bedroom door burst open and two people stormed inside. They were dressed in black head to toe, including gloves and balaclava helmets. Before Veruca could react she found herself hand gagged and a handkerchief with a strong chemical smell was pressed over her nose.
When Veruca came to she found herself confined in a severely crouched position. Resting on her knees, legs folded together, chest at her knees, arms at her side - and silenced with a cleave-gag. She was in some plastic box in which she barely fit. She had difficulty stretching her head forward but in front of her seemed to be a grille. And the box was moving, probably in a car. Twice she fell briefly unconscious again. But this was better than being awake because the shaking of the box made her nauseous. Finally the car stopped and soon her box was lifted and carried into a building. After a while the grille in front of her was swung open and another chemical smelling handkerchief rendered her unconscious.
When Veruca came to the next time she was laying in a fetal position on a tile floor. She looked around. She was in a compartment, maybe 1.5 meters wide, 2 meters deep and 1 meter high. All walls were covered in light gray tiles, only in front of her was a grille door. She felt something around her neck. Only when she tried to touch it, she noticed something was wrong with her hands. She looked at them and found them rendered useless. Her fingers were curled into tight leather pouches (mittens?, paws?), which were bound irremovably to her wrists by zip-ties. And something felt strange at her knees. She found herself wearing knee pads, like for roller skating. Next she noticed that she was wearing a diaper under her skirt. When she further took stock of her surroundings she noticed a blanket in the rear of her box and a metallic bowl with water at the front. And she could hear barking, whining and yelping noises of at least a dozen dogs.
She looked through the grille door. There was a hallway running left to right. To the left it ended after a few steps at a door. Across from her compartment (was it a kennel?) was another door marked 'bathroom'. To the right there were as far as she could see two rows of kennels like hers. It seemed most of the ground floor kennels were occupied by all kinds of dogs, while most of the top floor kennels seemed empty. Probably her side of the hallway had a similar arrangement of kennels. She tried to open the grille door but to no avail. At least with her mittened hands she had no luck.
"HELLO! HELP ME!" she shouted as loud as she could. Zapp! She received a painful sting from her collar. "HELP!" she tried again. Zapp! was again the reaction. Her keepers obviously wanted her to remain silent.
"HELP ME! THIS IS VERUCA JEN..." ZAPP! A much stronger jolt sent her rolling on the floor, arms and legs cramped together, and maybe her diaper had gotten something to do. Message understood, they really didn't want her to call for help. Next the door to her left opened and a person dressed in black with a black balaclava on his head entered. "Don't speak! Yes is Woof, No is Woofwoof, everything else" zapp! She received a moderate jolt from her shock collar. The man showed her the small remote control. "Was level 1, understand?" "Woof" "When shouting receive level 3, try again?" "Woofwoof" He gave her a thumbs-up. "Control also level 4 and 5" Veruca sent him a really frightened look. "You okay?" "Woof" Veruca asked herself if she had lost her mind. She had been kidnapped, locked in a dog kennel, had to wear a shock collar and wasn't allowed to speak. But apart from that she was 'okay'. "I'll be back." With that he opened the door again and disappeared.
Veruca tried to make sense of this. Her kidnappers didn't show their faces. That was good, because they obviously planned to release her sooner or later and wanted her not to recognize them. (Maybe those stupid true crime programs on TV were good for something after all.) Apparently she was held prisoner in a real dog shelter. This made no real sense. She expected to stay here for at least 3 more days until her parents returned from their business trip, read the kidnapper's ransom note and pay the money. But would they be able to afford the ransom? How much was her worth among kidnappers?
True to his word the left door opened again after 15 minutes. The person entering was disguised like the one before, but appeared female. She knelt down in front of the grille door and looked Veruca directly in the eyes. With one hand she showed her the remote control of her shock collar. With the other hand she held up a dog leash and a key. "I let you out kennel, leash you around, then go toilet." With that she pointed at the door opposite to Veruca's box. "You walk on knees, no stand up, no speak - else" zapp! only a light jolt. Although not directly asked, Veruca confirmed with one Woof. The woman unlocked the grille door and opened it just far enough to stretch her hand with the leash in. Veruca cooperated and presented her neck so the woman could clip in the leash. She opened the door fully and Veruca crawled outside. As expected her side of the hallway was also completely filled with ca. 15 kennel pairs, one atop the other. Veruca wanted to see the dog in the kennel above hers and tried to stand up. Zapp! She got reminded to 'no stand up'. On her knees and balled up hands she slowly made the tour of the kennels.
Her handler introduced her to every single dog. Veruca started to worry why - how long did they expect her to stay here? When she had reached the last kennel on her side she was shocked. There was a boy inside. A little older than her. Naked except for a diaper and a shock collar. Slowly he crawled to the grille door and pressed his nose through the bars. Veruca didn't know how to react. "This Preston." was all she explanation that was given to Veruca. The sad look he gave Veruca haunted her for the whole night. How long had he been held captive here? Was he looking at her with pity? Was he still a human boy? A short tug at her leash made her leave Preston and continue the tour on the opposite side. When she finally arrive at the bathroom door her handler gave her a light zapp! to be sure of her attention.
"In bathroom make ready sleeping. Go pee and shit. Wash. Brush teeth. Undress, clothes in basket. Change diaper - you can? Need help?"
Veruca hadn't expected that much text and looked slightly puzzled. Pointing at Veruca's kennel the woman said "Stay in box until morning, no toilet." That was indeed the missing explanation. Hopefully she'd be allowed to stand up in the bathroom. But how should she brush her teeth or change her diaper without use of her hands? As if on queue the woman produced a small pair of side cutters. She opened a slit in the bathroom door and stretched her hands through. Veruca understood. She crawled into the bathroom, the woman tied her leash to a hook at the tiled bathroom wall and closed the door from outside. Veruca stood up and stretched her paws outside. The woman cut the zip-ties and pulled the mittens from Veruca's hands. Then she closed the slit. At first Veruca was not sure whether she was now allowed to unclip the leash from her collar, but soon found out that the leash was too short to reach the sink and the towels anyway. She undressed and put the little clothing that she wore into a waiting laundry basket. She explored how to undo her diaper. After a while she had found all the adhesive strips and discarded her old diaper. She did her business on the toilet and flushed. After a short while the woman, who had heard this, asked "Need help with diaper?" When Veruca answered "No." she got a Zapp! and corrected herself with Woofwoof. She washed herself and brushed her teeth. Apparently her captors had stolen one-way toiletry from a well-known hotel chain. At last Veruca clipped the leash back to her collar, then she knocked on the bathroom door. The woman opened the slit, Veruca stretched her hands through and again lost their use. Finally she got back down on her knees - she could be a very docile little doggy if necessary. And on her knees and fists she presented mostly her back, so she was less embarrassed about her bare chest. When the woman opened the bathroom door to lead her out she patted Veruca's head. She was lead across the hallway to her kennel, the leash was unclipped and the grille door locked.
In her kennel - indeed she was already thinking of it as *her kennel* - there was now an appetizing smell. Next to the water bowl was a bowl with food. Thankfully it wasn't in a dog bowl out of which she'd have to eat directly with her mouth, like a real dog. Instead it was in a plastic cereal bowl which she could pick up even with her incapacitated paws. The food looked and smelled like chili. She tried it, it wasn't half bad. But then she spit everything out with disgust! The woman, who had still been watching her, was first a little shocked. Then, when Veruca pushed the bowl with visible disgust away from her and towards the kennel door, the woman's expression became angry. "Don't like? Preston like!" she asked. "I'm vega..." ZAPP! The shock from her collar tensed up her whole body. Only half conscious she registered how the woman opened her kennel door a bit and took the Chili con Carne away. "Sleep hungry!" she said rather annoyed. She opened the door, left the hallway, and turned off the light. Veruca drank some water, not too much - she wasn't keen on a wet diaper by morning. Thanks to her human lips she could suck the water from the bowl somewhat dignified and didn't have to lap it up with her tongue like a dog. Then she crawled to the back of her kennel and struggled with the blanket, which somehow smelled like dog. A long, boring and hungry night was about to start.
Part 1
Veruca was a spoiled brat. Her father said so, her mother said so, her elder brother Thomas, her teacher and most of the girls she'd hang out with. Probably they were right, Veruca thought. Not a full-fledged bitch or slut yet - nobody dared to call her that - but on her way. At 14 years she hadn't a pound too much on the scale, had long blond curls and a smile that she knew how to use to her advantage. And she no longer had to stuff her bra; although sometimes - when she deemed it beneficial - she still would.
At this weekend, the first of her school holidays, she was alone at home. She had hoped to go on a summer camp in New England, but her father declined it due to her declining school grades. Her parents, both running a small electric installation business, had left a few days for a trade show out of state. Her hitherto baby sitter had refused to look after her any more, declaring she was as baby sitter, not a brat sitter - which is rude because she got paid. And Thomas, her brother, whom his parents had ordered to look after her, had left the house a few hours ago to meet with some friends. She was alone at home. After sleeping long she watched some TV, but the few channels her parent's TV could receive were all boring.
She donned her blue pleated skirt and her pink crop top. Her parents considered this outfit way too short. Her brother didn't mind. And his soccer friends - should he bring them home - certainly not. Then she went into her parent's bedroom, sat down at the vanity. One by one she tried most of her mother's makeup. But she soon discovered that when it came to makeup, her mother – as with so many things – prioritized price over quality. She had just removed her makeup for the second time when she heard some noise from the living room. Probably her stupid brother. Just as she was about to try some blue mascara the bedroom door burst open and two people stormed inside. They were dressed in black head to toe, including gloves and balaclava helmets. Before Veruca could react she found herself hand gagged and a handkerchief with a strong chemical smell was pressed over her nose.
When Veruca came to she found herself confined in a severely crouched position. Resting on her knees, legs folded together, chest at her knees, arms at her side - and silenced with a cleave-gag. She was in some plastic box in which she barely fit. She had difficulty stretching her head forward but in front of her seemed to be a grille. And the box was moving, probably in a car. Twice she fell briefly unconscious again. But this was better than being awake because the shaking of the box made her nauseous. Finally the car stopped and soon her box was lifted and carried into a building. After a while the grille in front of her was swung open and another chemical smelling handkerchief rendered her unconscious.
When Veruca came to the next time she was laying in a fetal position on a tile floor. She looked around. She was in a compartment, maybe 1.5 meters wide, 2 meters deep and 1 meter high. All walls were covered in light gray tiles, only in front of her was a grille door. She felt something around her neck. Only when she tried to touch it, she noticed something was wrong with her hands. She looked at them and found them rendered useless. Her fingers were curled into tight leather pouches (mittens?, paws?), which were bound irremovably to her wrists by zip-ties. And something felt strange at her knees. She found herself wearing knee pads, like for roller skating. Next she noticed that she was wearing a diaper under her skirt. When she further took stock of her surroundings she noticed a blanket in the rear of her box and a metallic bowl with water at the front. And she could hear barking, whining and yelping noises of at least a dozen dogs.
She looked through the grille door. There was a hallway running left to right. To the left it ended after a few steps at a door. Across from her compartment (was it a kennel?) was another door marked 'bathroom'. To the right there were as far as she could see two rows of kennels like hers. It seemed most of the ground floor kennels were occupied by all kinds of dogs, while most of the top floor kennels seemed empty. Probably her side of the hallway had a similar arrangement of kennels. She tried to open the grille door but to no avail. At least with her mittened hands she had no luck.
"HELLO! HELP ME!" she shouted as loud as she could. Zapp! She received a painful sting from her collar. "HELP!" she tried again. Zapp! was again the reaction. Her keepers obviously wanted her to remain silent.
"HELP ME! THIS IS VERUCA JEN..." ZAPP! A much stronger jolt sent her rolling on the floor, arms and legs cramped together, and maybe her diaper had gotten something to do. Message understood, they really didn't want her to call for help. Next the door to her left opened and a person dressed in black with a black balaclava on his head entered. "Don't speak! Yes is Woof, No is Woofwoof, everything else" zapp! She received a moderate jolt from her shock collar. The man showed her the small remote control. "Was level 1, understand?" "Woof" "When shouting receive level 3, try again?" "Woofwoof" He gave her a thumbs-up. "Control also level 4 and 5" Veruca sent him a really frightened look. "You okay?" "Woof" Veruca asked herself if she had lost her mind. She had been kidnapped, locked in a dog kennel, had to wear a shock collar and wasn't allowed to speak. But apart from that she was 'okay'. "I'll be back." With that he opened the door again and disappeared.
Veruca tried to make sense of this. Her kidnappers didn't show their faces. That was good, because they obviously planned to release her sooner or later and wanted her not to recognize them. (Maybe those stupid true crime programs on TV were good for something after all.) Apparently she was held prisoner in a real dog shelter. This made no real sense. She expected to stay here for at least 3 more days until her parents returned from their business trip, read the kidnapper's ransom note and pay the money. But would they be able to afford the ransom? How much was her worth among kidnappers?
True to his word the left door opened again after 15 minutes. The person entering was disguised like the one before, but appeared female. She knelt down in front of the grille door and looked Veruca directly in the eyes. With one hand she showed her the remote control of her shock collar. With the other hand she held up a dog leash and a key. "I let you out kennel, leash you around, then go toilet." With that she pointed at the door opposite to Veruca's box. "You walk on knees, no stand up, no speak - else" zapp! only a light jolt. Although not directly asked, Veruca confirmed with one Woof. The woman unlocked the grille door and opened it just far enough to stretch her hand with the leash in. Veruca cooperated and presented her neck so the woman could clip in the leash. She opened the door fully and Veruca crawled outside. As expected her side of the hallway was also completely filled with ca. 15 kennel pairs, one atop the other. Veruca wanted to see the dog in the kennel above hers and tried to stand up. Zapp! She got reminded to 'no stand up'. On her knees and balled up hands she slowly made the tour of the kennels.
Her handler introduced her to every single dog. Veruca started to worry why - how long did they expect her to stay here? When she had reached the last kennel on her side she was shocked. There was a boy inside. A little older than her. Naked except for a diaper and a shock collar. Slowly he crawled to the grille door and pressed his nose through the bars. Veruca didn't know how to react. "This Preston." was all she explanation that was given to Veruca. The sad look he gave Veruca haunted her for the whole night. How long had he been held captive here? Was he looking at her with pity? Was he still a human boy? A short tug at her leash made her leave Preston and continue the tour on the opposite side. When she finally arrive at the bathroom door her handler gave her a light zapp! to be sure of her attention.
"In bathroom make ready sleeping. Go pee and shit. Wash. Brush teeth. Undress, clothes in basket. Change diaper - you can? Need help?"
Veruca hadn't expected that much text and looked slightly puzzled. Pointing at Veruca's kennel the woman said "Stay in box until morning, no toilet." That was indeed the missing explanation. Hopefully she'd be allowed to stand up in the bathroom. But how should she brush her teeth or change her diaper without use of her hands? As if on queue the woman produced a small pair of side cutters. She opened a slit in the bathroom door and stretched her hands through. Veruca understood. She crawled into the bathroom, the woman tied her leash to a hook at the tiled bathroom wall and closed the door from outside. Veruca stood up and stretched her paws outside. The woman cut the zip-ties and pulled the mittens from Veruca's hands. Then she closed the slit. At first Veruca was not sure whether she was now allowed to unclip the leash from her collar, but soon found out that the leash was too short to reach the sink and the towels anyway. She undressed and put the little clothing that she wore into a waiting laundry basket. She explored how to undo her diaper. After a while she had found all the adhesive strips and discarded her old diaper. She did her business on the toilet and flushed. After a short while the woman, who had heard this, asked "Need help with diaper?" When Veruca answered "No." she got a Zapp! and corrected herself with Woofwoof. She washed herself and brushed her teeth. Apparently her captors had stolen one-way toiletry from a well-known hotel chain. At last Veruca clipped the leash back to her collar, then she knocked on the bathroom door. The woman opened the slit, Veruca stretched her hands through and again lost their use. Finally she got back down on her knees - she could be a very docile little doggy if necessary. And on her knees and fists she presented mostly her back, so she was less embarrassed about her bare chest. When the woman opened the bathroom door to lead her out she patted Veruca's head. She was lead across the hallway to her kennel, the leash was unclipped and the grille door locked.
In her kennel - indeed she was already thinking of it as *her kennel* - there was now an appetizing smell. Next to the water bowl was a bowl with food. Thankfully it wasn't in a dog bowl out of which she'd have to eat directly with her mouth, like a real dog. Instead it was in a plastic cereal bowl which she could pick up even with her incapacitated paws. The food looked and smelled like chili. She tried it, it wasn't half bad. But then she spit everything out with disgust! The woman, who had still been watching her, was first a little shocked. Then, when Veruca pushed the bowl with visible disgust away from her and towards the kennel door, the woman's expression became angry. "Don't like? Preston like!" she asked. "I'm vega..." ZAPP! The shock from her collar tensed up her whole body. Only half conscious she registered how the woman opened her kennel door a bit and took the Chili con Carne away. "Sleep hungry!" she said rather annoyed. She opened the door, left the hallway, and turned off the light. Veruca drank some water, not too much - she wasn't keen on a wet diaper by morning. Thanks to her human lips she could suck the water from the bowl somewhat dignified and didn't have to lap it up with her tongue like a dog. Then she crawled to the back of her kennel and struggled with the blanket, which somehow smelled like dog. A long, boring and hungry night was about to start.
Last edited by Jenny_1972 1 day ago, edited 1 time in total.
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Jenny_1972
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 147
- Joined: 5 months ago
Part 2
How to fall asleep with no smartphone or TV, not even a book? The dogs seemed to have no such problems because they went quite quickly. The dog in the box above her made snoring noises just like her brother, she observed. She tried to understand what had happened today.
- Apparently she was in a working dog shelter.
- She wasn't the only human held captive here.
- The man and the woman seemed to be used to the occasional human guest.
- Did they maybe run a side hustle, hiding kidnapped children among their dogs?
- She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, she couldn't tell how long they had driven around with her. Maybe she was in another state?!
- The choppy way the man and the woman spoke struck her as odd – as if they were only pretending not to speak proper English.
- She had to wear this awful shock collar, but apart from that they were taking care of her elementary needs.
Maybe it was the aftermath of being chemically knocked out twice today, because when she tried to fall asleep she succeeded immediately.
She awoke to a lot of commotion. The sun was shining through the roof windows and there was happy(?) barking everywhere because the man and woman were busy bringing the dogs their 'breakfast'. Finally the woman came also to Veruca's box and opened the door. "Breakfast!" said the woman harshly, which Veruca interpreted as 'better eat it, there will be no other!'. The woman topped up the water bowl and placed a plastic bowl next to it. It was filled with granola and had just the right consistency to hold the bowl with two stumps and let it flow into her mouth. She noticed, that it was made with cow milk. But she was too hungry to insist on something Lactose-free. The granola was okay and substantial, but only cold water to drink (to lap up) didn't meet her breakfast expectations.
Just when she had finished her breakfast something was going on outside and the general barking became much louder. It turned out that the man had opened the door at the far end (at Preston's end) of the hallway. Now, one after the other, all dogs were released and ran eagerly outside - probably to some fenced off compound. Soon it became quiet.
Only a silent tapping noise remained and came slowly nearer. Similar to a dog, but only just. Preston was walking up the hallway along the male guard. Of course he was walking on all fours, but he wasn't leashed. The shock collar, which he still wore, sufficed obviously to control him. What shocked Veruca was how effortlessly Preston walked on all fours. How long must he have been held here prisoner? Preston was naked except for the diaper. This made Veruca aware that she was 'dressed' just as scantily. She retreated to the back of her box. But Preston was only focused on the bathroom, which was across from her box. As expected he stretched his bound up hands through the slit in the bathroom door to get the zip-ties cut. Later one heard the toilet flush and the shower running. And again later one saw him offer is hands for being tied up again. When Preston left the bathroom he wore a t-shirt and shorts. Telling from the bulging shape of his shorts he wore a fresh diaper underneath. This gave her a good idea what her own morning toilet would look like. Indeed, as soon as Preston was crawling towards his kennel, the man let Veruca out of her box and across to the bathroom. It seemed that the man needed no leash, neither for her nor for Preston. In the bathroom Veruca found the clothing, she had left the evening before in the laundry basket, now freshly washed - although not ironed. She was taking too long in there it seemed because the man knocked loudly at the door just when she was dressing. She hurried up, then offered her hands to be wrapped up and waited for the bathroom door to open. Zapp! She had forgotten to get down on all fours. Thank good it was only a Zapp! and not a ZAPP!.
The man clipped the leash into her collar. She had expected just to return to her kennel, but the short tug he gave her leash directed her towards the open door at the far end of the hallway. As they passed Preston's box it was empty, so he too was outside, mingling with the dogs. When Veruca step outside, the dogs noticed her and ran towards her. Although the man tried his best to shoo them away, they curiously sniffed her - and for the first time she appreciated the diaper. Another tug at her lead made her follow the man further away from the door. Veruca noticed that they had already left behind all dogs when she suddenly felt a zapp! from her shock collar. Not feeling guilty of any misdemeanor she looked at the man. He had expected her puzzled look and pointed at the driveway they were just about to cross. "Invisible fence" the man explained and, pointing at the remote control of her shock collar, added "Level 1". Then he commanded her "Stay!" and crossed the driveway. Gesturing along the far side of the driveway he explained "Level 2". Just to make sure Veruca understood he pressed button 2 on the remote control and she received a painful Zapp!. Finally he pointed at the fence that surrounded the compound and warned her "Level 3". The frightened look showed him that Veruca had understood and he forwent a demonstration.
When they slowly returned to the door, further dogs paid her their courtesy visit. Veruca noticed, how much taller even Labradors and golden retrievers appeared, now that she was forced onto her knees and fists. Finally they reached Preston. He honestly - like a real dog - tried to sniff her butt until he received a zapp from his collar. (Probably level 2 - apparently the man had both remote controls in his pocket.) In turn he offered his butt to Veruca, so she could ... gross! Had Preston been here long enough to completely lose his mind?
The man tethered her leash to a lamppost and produced a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket. Showing it to Veruca and Preston he said "You don't tell wive then you can speak - okay?" "Woof" "Woof" With that the man withdrew a few steps and lit his cigarette. "Hello, I am Veruca. And you're Preston, right?" "Woof" Veruca was again shocked. They were allowed to talk - she hadn't been zapped for doing so - but Preston wouldn't. "But you can still speak?" "Woof" "You just don't want to?" "Woof" It took her a while to digest this - 'weirdo' was her best explanation. "How long have you been here?" Preston made a long whining sound. "More than a week?" "Woof" "More than two weeks?" "Woof" "More than a month?" "Woofwoof" Thank god. So he had been held here for about three weeks. Maybe this was also her future. "Have you also been kidnapped?" "Woofwoof" Somehow Veruca had expected this, although she couldn't understand why. "Are you here voluntarily?" Preston made a tortured whimper, but then said "Woofwoof". Not kidnapped but not voluntarily - Veruca couldn't make sense of it, but it confirmed her 'weirdo' verdict. Before she could ask another question the man had unfortunately finished his cigarette. He untied her leash and lead her back to her kennel.
Shortly after her kennel door had been locked again and the man had disappeared through the door to her left, one of the dogs approached the grille. It was a dark-brown Labradoodle. A patch of brighter fur around its left eye gave it a somewhat funny appearance. It barked at her in a friendly way, as if it wanted to say hello. "Hello doggy, I am Veru.." zapp! She wasn't allowed to talk - not even to cute little dogs. She tried to bark back as good as she could and the Labradoodle seemed to understand the pleasantry. It came closer to the door and pocked its snout through the grille. When Veruca came also closer the dog licked her face. Veruca quickly withdrew her head in disgust. But such were the formalities among dogs. Was she now expected to lick the dog's snout in return? But the dog had already stepped back from the door and sat now on its hind paws. Veruca noticed the nice maroon collar it wore and the bone shaped pendant that said 'Becky'. "Hello Becky" zapp! These level 1 shocks were only 'friendly reminders' not to speak, some inconvenience she was willing to endure when necessary. With another friendly bark Becky stood up and walked away. Veruca tried to see to which box, but Becky soon disappeared out of sight. Now things got boring. Laying in her box, with no phone, no WiFi, no TV, not even a book or magazine to read.
If Preston had been enduring this for three weeks now, no wonder if it got to his mind. A dog shelter is the easier to bear the more you become a dog yourself - maybe this was his reasoning? What could he have meant when he woofed 'not kidnapped' but 'not voluntarily here'. And what could the long whine before that last answer have meant? Had he been sent here? By whom? As a kind of punishment? For what infringement? Or did he want to become a dog? These days boys also became girls, after all. Most boys aren't smart enough to be a girl, but dogs maybe...
She noticed that it went quiet in the shelter. The morning activities seemed to have tired the dogs, so that they now were taking a nap or at least resting. Maybe she should also. Indeed she fell asleep until she was woken up by the woman pushing a magazine through the bars of her kennel door. She said "For reading" and smiled. "Woof" replied Veruca, quick-witted enough not to speak. At first Veruca had some difficulties handling the magazine with her bundled up fingers but finally she found a way that worked. And after all, the magazine was only an old issue of "Teen Vogue" (what did they think of her?!), so it didn't matter if it got a few creases and dog-eared pages more. The fashion recommendations were 8 years old and totally cringy. She read them nevertheless. In fact, by dinner time she had read every single page of the magazine. And she had even solved the crossword puzzle on her head. While she would have chosen different reading material for herself, it confirmed her observation that the man and the woman were concerned about her well being - even if she had spent most of the day in a kennel without use of her fingers.
For dinner the woman brought her a dog bowl with 'Chicken Sweetsour', seemingly from some Chinese take-away. Veruca was too hungry and too cautious to complain about the meat. And her hunger also got the better of her inhibitions. She buried her head in the bowl and began eating like a dog. Only that a dog would not have spit out every single piece of chicken to the side of the bowl, only eating the rice and the vegetables. After dinner the bathroom procedure was also the same as the day before. Veruca enjoyed when she got her face clean again. Soon she was back in her kennel, naked except for her fresh diaper. "Good night" said the woman locking the kennel door. "Woof" said Veruca.
Although she became more aware of the noises the various dogs made in their sleep than the night before, she again slept well through the night. Or maybe they had slipped her a sleeping pill in the Chinese dinner? Anyway, the next morning began like the previous one. Granola breakfast without tea or juice, Preston before her in the bathroom, then her own bathroom break. This time her clothes hadn't been cleaned. Then the woman lead her crawl outside, playtime with the other dogs. No, with the dogs. She wasn't a dog, not yet. Veruca was looking for Preston but Becky found her first. They played a little. Becky was much faster at running around (with Veruca crawling on all fours) but Veruca was much better at tackling Becky and throwing her on her back, rubbing her belly. Just then Preston came to the two. He made a peculiar growl and Becky left them. Veruca and Preston looked at each other, not sure how to communicate, but then the woman showed them a pack of cigarettes and said "You don't tell husband then you can speak - okay?" "Woof" "Woof". "So you weren't kidnapped, but you're not here voluntarily." "Woof" "Were you sent here as some kind of punishment?" He hesitated, then "Woof" "Who sent you here? Your parents?" Again after a while "Woof" "Your parents have sent you to a dog shelter? Are they crazy?" "Woofwoof" "You defend them? What on earth have you done?" He only made a pitiful whining noise. "Have you tried to escape?" "Woofwoof" "How long will you stay here?" He tapped his right paw four time. "Four more days?" "Woofwoof" "Four more months?" "Woofwoof" Just when Veruca tried to imagine four more years she noticed she had forgotten "Four more weeks?" "Woof" But before she could ask another question the woman's cigarette break was over (Veruca noted that the woman's cigarette break had taken about twice as long as the man's the day before) and Veruca was lead on her leash back to her kennel.
Against the boredom of the day the woman slipped Veruca another issue of "Teen Vogue" through the bars of the kennel, but Veruca was still busy trying to make sense of what Preston had 'said.'
What could he have done that made his parents even consider such a punishment? And made him accept it? Probably not a crime that police or courts deal with. Four more weeks - that's the end of the school holidays.
If his parents had sent him here ... maybe her parents? Why should somebody break into her parent's house to kidnap her? Her father used to say 'Don't worry about being kidnapped. The way you act they'll return you the next morning latest.' Why not simply tie her up, maybe gag her, but then rob her mother's jewelry and her father's gold coins? But why would her parents send her here? What had she done? Other than being a spoiled brat? Alternately annoying her father, mother, brother, teachers, class mates. She flipped open the magazine and managed to distract her from these unwelcome thoughts.
The afternoon, evening and night followed the established routine. But in the morning, after Preston had been in the bathroom, he was put on a leash and led through the door on the left instead of crawling unattended back to the right. The same happened to Veruca. As soon as she opened the bathroom door again the man clipped a leash to her shock collar and led her to the door, behind which she didn't know what lay. It turned out to be a rather normal office, the kind you'd expect in a dog shelter. It had many photos of cute dogs on the wall. An office desk, office chair, computer, printer and a couch; probably for clients (customers? visitors? parents?) to sit and talk with either the woman or the man. But Veruca didn't stay there for long. She was led into an adjacent room, a kind of storage room with many filing cabinets, shelves with dog food, etc. On the floor were two dog transport boxes. One of which was already occupied by Preston; Veruca was shoved into the other one. Zapp! That got the man the attention of both Preston and Veruca. "You quiet!" he said and made a gesture like zipping his lips shut. "You make noise - Level 5" with this he showed them the remote control of their shock collars with his finger clearly hovering over the button marked "5". Then the man left them alone in their boxes.
How to fall asleep with no smartphone or TV, not even a book? The dogs seemed to have no such problems because they went quite quickly. The dog in the box above her made snoring noises just like her brother, she observed. She tried to understand what had happened today.
- Apparently she was in a working dog shelter.
- She wasn't the only human held captive here.
- The man and the woman seemed to be used to the occasional human guest.
- Did they maybe run a side hustle, hiding kidnapped children among their dogs?
- She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, she couldn't tell how long they had driven around with her. Maybe she was in another state?!
- The choppy way the man and the woman spoke struck her as odd – as if they were only pretending not to speak proper English.
- She had to wear this awful shock collar, but apart from that they were taking care of her elementary needs.
Maybe it was the aftermath of being chemically knocked out twice today, because when she tried to fall asleep she succeeded immediately.
She awoke to a lot of commotion. The sun was shining through the roof windows and there was happy(?) barking everywhere because the man and woman were busy bringing the dogs their 'breakfast'. Finally the woman came also to Veruca's box and opened the door. "Breakfast!" said the woman harshly, which Veruca interpreted as 'better eat it, there will be no other!'. The woman topped up the water bowl and placed a plastic bowl next to it. It was filled with granola and had just the right consistency to hold the bowl with two stumps and let it flow into her mouth. She noticed, that it was made with cow milk. But she was too hungry to insist on something Lactose-free. The granola was okay and substantial, but only cold water to drink (to lap up) didn't meet her breakfast expectations.
Just when she had finished her breakfast something was going on outside and the general barking became much louder. It turned out that the man had opened the door at the far end (at Preston's end) of the hallway. Now, one after the other, all dogs were released and ran eagerly outside - probably to some fenced off compound. Soon it became quiet.
Only a silent tapping noise remained and came slowly nearer. Similar to a dog, but only just. Preston was walking up the hallway along the male guard. Of course he was walking on all fours, but he wasn't leashed. The shock collar, which he still wore, sufficed obviously to control him. What shocked Veruca was how effortlessly Preston walked on all fours. How long must he have been held here prisoner? Preston was naked except for the diaper. This made Veruca aware that she was 'dressed' just as scantily. She retreated to the back of her box. But Preston was only focused on the bathroom, which was across from her box. As expected he stretched his bound up hands through the slit in the bathroom door to get the zip-ties cut. Later one heard the toilet flush and the shower running. And again later one saw him offer is hands for being tied up again. When Preston left the bathroom he wore a t-shirt and shorts. Telling from the bulging shape of his shorts he wore a fresh diaper underneath. This gave her a good idea what her own morning toilet would look like. Indeed, as soon as Preston was crawling towards his kennel, the man let Veruca out of her box and across to the bathroom. It seemed that the man needed no leash, neither for her nor for Preston. In the bathroom Veruca found the clothing, she had left the evening before in the laundry basket, now freshly washed - although not ironed. She was taking too long in there it seemed because the man knocked loudly at the door just when she was dressing. She hurried up, then offered her hands to be wrapped up and waited for the bathroom door to open. Zapp! She had forgotten to get down on all fours. Thank good it was only a Zapp! and not a ZAPP!.
The man clipped the leash into her collar. She had expected just to return to her kennel, but the short tug he gave her leash directed her towards the open door at the far end of the hallway. As they passed Preston's box it was empty, so he too was outside, mingling with the dogs. When Veruca step outside, the dogs noticed her and ran towards her. Although the man tried his best to shoo them away, they curiously sniffed her - and for the first time she appreciated the diaper. Another tug at her lead made her follow the man further away from the door. Veruca noticed that they had already left behind all dogs when she suddenly felt a zapp! from her shock collar. Not feeling guilty of any misdemeanor she looked at the man. He had expected her puzzled look and pointed at the driveway they were just about to cross. "Invisible fence" the man explained and, pointing at the remote control of her shock collar, added "Level 1". Then he commanded her "Stay!" and crossed the driveway. Gesturing along the far side of the driveway he explained "Level 2". Just to make sure Veruca understood he pressed button 2 on the remote control and she received a painful Zapp!. Finally he pointed at the fence that surrounded the compound and warned her "Level 3". The frightened look showed him that Veruca had understood and he forwent a demonstration.
When they slowly returned to the door, further dogs paid her their courtesy visit. Veruca noticed, how much taller even Labradors and golden retrievers appeared, now that she was forced onto her knees and fists. Finally they reached Preston. He honestly - like a real dog - tried to sniff her butt until he received a zapp from his collar. (Probably level 2 - apparently the man had both remote controls in his pocket.) In turn he offered his butt to Veruca, so she could ... gross! Had Preston been here long enough to completely lose his mind?
The man tethered her leash to a lamppost and produced a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket. Showing it to Veruca and Preston he said "You don't tell wive then you can speak - okay?" "Woof" "Woof" With that the man withdrew a few steps and lit his cigarette. "Hello, I am Veruca. And you're Preston, right?" "Woof" Veruca was again shocked. They were allowed to talk - she hadn't been zapped for doing so - but Preston wouldn't. "But you can still speak?" "Woof" "You just don't want to?" "Woof" It took her a while to digest this - 'weirdo' was her best explanation. "How long have you been here?" Preston made a long whining sound. "More than a week?" "Woof" "More than two weeks?" "Woof" "More than a month?" "Woofwoof" Thank god. So he had been held here for about three weeks. Maybe this was also her future. "Have you also been kidnapped?" "Woofwoof" Somehow Veruca had expected this, although she couldn't understand why. "Are you here voluntarily?" Preston made a tortured whimper, but then said "Woofwoof". Not kidnapped but not voluntarily - Veruca couldn't make sense of it, but it confirmed her 'weirdo' verdict. Before she could ask another question the man had unfortunately finished his cigarette. He untied her leash and lead her back to her kennel.
Shortly after her kennel door had been locked again and the man had disappeared through the door to her left, one of the dogs approached the grille. It was a dark-brown Labradoodle. A patch of brighter fur around its left eye gave it a somewhat funny appearance. It barked at her in a friendly way, as if it wanted to say hello. "Hello doggy, I am Veru.." zapp! She wasn't allowed to talk - not even to cute little dogs. She tried to bark back as good as she could and the Labradoodle seemed to understand the pleasantry. It came closer to the door and pocked its snout through the grille. When Veruca came also closer the dog licked her face. Veruca quickly withdrew her head in disgust. But such were the formalities among dogs. Was she now expected to lick the dog's snout in return? But the dog had already stepped back from the door and sat now on its hind paws. Veruca noticed the nice maroon collar it wore and the bone shaped pendant that said 'Becky'. "Hello Becky" zapp! These level 1 shocks were only 'friendly reminders' not to speak, some inconvenience she was willing to endure when necessary. With another friendly bark Becky stood up and walked away. Veruca tried to see to which box, but Becky soon disappeared out of sight. Now things got boring. Laying in her box, with no phone, no WiFi, no TV, not even a book or magazine to read.
If Preston had been enduring this for three weeks now, no wonder if it got to his mind. A dog shelter is the easier to bear the more you become a dog yourself - maybe this was his reasoning? What could he have meant when he woofed 'not kidnapped' but 'not voluntarily here'. And what could the long whine before that last answer have meant? Had he been sent here? By whom? As a kind of punishment? For what infringement? Or did he want to become a dog? These days boys also became girls, after all. Most boys aren't smart enough to be a girl, but dogs maybe...
She noticed that it went quiet in the shelter. The morning activities seemed to have tired the dogs, so that they now were taking a nap or at least resting. Maybe she should also. Indeed she fell asleep until she was woken up by the woman pushing a magazine through the bars of her kennel door. She said "For reading" and smiled. "Woof" replied Veruca, quick-witted enough not to speak. At first Veruca had some difficulties handling the magazine with her bundled up fingers but finally she found a way that worked. And after all, the magazine was only an old issue of "Teen Vogue" (what did they think of her?!), so it didn't matter if it got a few creases and dog-eared pages more. The fashion recommendations were 8 years old and totally cringy. She read them nevertheless. In fact, by dinner time she had read every single page of the magazine. And she had even solved the crossword puzzle on her head. While she would have chosen different reading material for herself, it confirmed her observation that the man and the woman were concerned about her well being - even if she had spent most of the day in a kennel without use of her fingers.
For dinner the woman brought her a dog bowl with 'Chicken Sweetsour', seemingly from some Chinese take-away. Veruca was too hungry and too cautious to complain about the meat. And her hunger also got the better of her inhibitions. She buried her head in the bowl and began eating like a dog. Only that a dog would not have spit out every single piece of chicken to the side of the bowl, only eating the rice and the vegetables. After dinner the bathroom procedure was also the same as the day before. Veruca enjoyed when she got her face clean again. Soon she was back in her kennel, naked except for her fresh diaper. "Good night" said the woman locking the kennel door. "Woof" said Veruca.
Although she became more aware of the noises the various dogs made in their sleep than the night before, she again slept well through the night. Or maybe they had slipped her a sleeping pill in the Chinese dinner? Anyway, the next morning began like the previous one. Granola breakfast without tea or juice, Preston before her in the bathroom, then her own bathroom break. This time her clothes hadn't been cleaned. Then the woman lead her crawl outside, playtime with the other dogs. No, with the dogs. She wasn't a dog, not yet. Veruca was looking for Preston but Becky found her first. They played a little. Becky was much faster at running around (with Veruca crawling on all fours) but Veruca was much better at tackling Becky and throwing her on her back, rubbing her belly. Just then Preston came to the two. He made a peculiar growl and Becky left them. Veruca and Preston looked at each other, not sure how to communicate, but then the woman showed them a pack of cigarettes and said "You don't tell husband then you can speak - okay?" "Woof" "Woof". "So you weren't kidnapped, but you're not here voluntarily." "Woof" "Were you sent here as some kind of punishment?" He hesitated, then "Woof" "Who sent you here? Your parents?" Again after a while "Woof" "Your parents have sent you to a dog shelter? Are they crazy?" "Woofwoof" "You defend them? What on earth have you done?" He only made a pitiful whining noise. "Have you tried to escape?" "Woofwoof" "How long will you stay here?" He tapped his right paw four time. "Four more days?" "Woofwoof" "Four more months?" "Woofwoof" Just when Veruca tried to imagine four more years she noticed she had forgotten "Four more weeks?" "Woof" But before she could ask another question the woman's cigarette break was over (Veruca noted that the woman's cigarette break had taken about twice as long as the man's the day before) and Veruca was lead on her leash back to her kennel.
Against the boredom of the day the woman slipped Veruca another issue of "Teen Vogue" through the bars of the kennel, but Veruca was still busy trying to make sense of what Preston had 'said.'
What could he have done that made his parents even consider such a punishment? And made him accept it? Probably not a crime that police or courts deal with. Four more weeks - that's the end of the school holidays.
If his parents had sent him here ... maybe her parents? Why should somebody break into her parent's house to kidnap her? Her father used to say 'Don't worry about being kidnapped. The way you act they'll return you the next morning latest.' Why not simply tie her up, maybe gag her, but then rob her mother's jewelry and her father's gold coins? But why would her parents send her here? What had she done? Other than being a spoiled brat? Alternately annoying her father, mother, brother, teachers, class mates. She flipped open the magazine and managed to distract her from these unwelcome thoughts.
The afternoon, evening and night followed the established routine. But in the morning, after Preston had been in the bathroom, he was put on a leash and led through the door on the left instead of crawling unattended back to the right. The same happened to Veruca. As soon as she opened the bathroom door again the man clipped a leash to her shock collar and led her to the door, behind which she didn't know what lay. It turned out to be a rather normal office, the kind you'd expect in a dog shelter. It had many photos of cute dogs on the wall. An office desk, office chair, computer, printer and a couch; probably for clients (customers? visitors? parents?) to sit and talk with either the woman or the man. But Veruca didn't stay there for long. She was led into an adjacent room, a kind of storage room with many filing cabinets, shelves with dog food, etc. On the floor were two dog transport boxes. One of which was already occupied by Preston; Veruca was shoved into the other one. Zapp! That got the man the attention of both Preston and Veruca. "You quiet!" he said and made a gesture like zipping his lips shut. "You make noise - Level 5" with this he showed them the remote control of their shock collars with his finger clearly hovering over the button marked "5". Then the man left them alone in their boxes.
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Jenny_1972
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 147
- Joined: 5 months ago
Part 3
"It's Saturday, that's when people come to adopt dogs." explained Preston whispered very quietly. "You speak!?" exclaimed Veruca receiving a painful level 2 Zapp!
"Yes, of course I speak." whispered Preston "The shock collars are also voice activated. Rotate the bulky part onto your neck, like in a 5 or 7 o'clock position. There the sensor is least sensitive. When you whisper as quietly as I do you get away with very few level 1 zapps."
Veruca turned the collar as recommended and tried to whisper "Thank you. How do you know this trick?" Indeed, she only got a single level 1 zapp.
"One has time to try things out here. Like a real prisoner." answered Preston. "We will stay here for about four hours. Then the shelter's opening hours are over and the visitors are gone."
"Four hours?" Zapp! This was too loud. Veruca admired Preston how he'd fit into his box that long. Their boxes were exactly the same size but Preston was quite a bit taller than she.
"How can you stay locked in there for so long?" Not a single zapp. "Yoga, five years." was Preston's reply.
"You said you must stay here for four more weeks. That's the end of the summer holidays. Did your parents send you here as some kind of alternative summer camp?"
"Close enough. And you, do you really believe you were kidnapped here and that you're held ransom?" "What do you mean?" "I bet your parents sent you here, just like mine. Maybe staged your transfer in a spectacular way. But I am sure they know very well where you are." Veruca fell silent for a while. "But why would they send me here?" "To better your ways. You tell me."
Veruca noted the way Preston was speaking. Not condescending, but in natural way posh.
And Preston might have been right. How her parents wouldn't at least bargain with her about some summer camp. How they were away on the very day of the robbery. Even how her brother simply left her unattended, not caring that she'd rat on him as soon as their parents return. And the intruders had planned to kidnap her, otherwise they wouldn't have brought that dog cage and the chloroform. These thoughts didn't feel good, not at all.
"What did you do that made your parents send you here, into this dog shelter, not into a nice summer camp?" Veruca tried to steer their conversation back into a more comfortable direction.
"In fact they had sent me to a summer camp in Maine right on my last school day." "So what went wrong?" "Let's just say I messed up. The camp wanted to send me home. But they couldn't, because my parents are in Europe until the end of the summer holidays. So they agreed with my parents to send me here instead." Veruca was shocked. "You must have messed up big!" "Really big." "But you won't tell me?" "No." "May I guess?" "No!" Zapp! "The camp could handle boys who drink or smoke weed, and you don't seem to be doing stronger stuff." "Woof" "You wouldn't steal another kid's pocket money." "Woof" "Something that really triggered them. Like, did someone walk in on you with a guy?" There was no answer from Preston, but the way his whole body cramped together was as good as a 'yes'. Even quieter than before he asked really surprised "How did you know?" Veruca giggled. Zapp! "Which straight guy does yoga and has holes in both earlobes?" "And that gave me away already?" "That and the way you don't look at me." "What?!"
"In the morning, when you go to the bathroom before me and you pass my kennel, you don't try to get a look at my bare chest. The man who holds my leash does. All the boys at school do all the time, some girls also, and even my brother, but he thinks I don't notice. You don't." There was a lengthy pause. "Harrison was the guy. I know him from last year's summer camp. We didn't get caught then. No such luck this year. He got sent home too." "Didn't your parents know?" "My father doesn't care that much about me. He's busy managing the family's investment fund. My mother has always tolerated my soft side. She always wanted a girl, I believe. And I wanted to please her, I guess." "Painting, ballet, theater classes?" "How do you know?" Zapp! Giggle. Zapp! "Stop it!" ZAPP! Laughing out loud. ZAPP! Both of them received a painful, silencing shock from their collars and were afraid that any moment the man or the woman might come to punish them. But they were lucky, they stayed alone in the storage room. Both had to recover and remained silent for a while.
"What will your parents do when you're back with them?" "Nothing." "Nothing?" "I suppose my father is only upset because I got caught, I wasn't discrete enough, got kicked out from the camp. It's undesirable for the family reputation. In the end they will be okay with it. I hope." There was another silence during which Veruca tried to stretch her limbs somewhat. Then it was Preston who started speaking:
"And you? Any idea why you were sent here?" "No." "May I guess?" "No!" zapp! "Well developed general brattiness, about to burgeon into full fledged bitchiness." "How dare you?" Zapp! "Close enough?" Veruca didn't answer but finally asked:
"Why don't you speak during their cigarette breaks? They actually encourage us to." "Resistance? And I don't trust them." "But they look after us - within the limits of their dog shelter." "Yes. Won't get paid if we get damaged bodily or mentally. But still, they shouldn't know more about me than necessary. No fraternization." "Frater..?" "Becoming friends with the enemy."
"Have you got any siblings?" "Not really. Marion, my half sister, is ten year older than me. But she has broken with the family. Left the day she turned 18. Fights capitalism since then." "So your family are capitalists - whatever this means?" "My great-great-great-grandfather was in the railway business. His son made money with the gold rush. His son switched into the oil business and helped the country build tanks and trucks. My grandfather built computers for NASA and my father started a software company." "And you will run an art gallery." Giggle. zapp! "I guess even running an art gallery would be okay with the family values as long as it earns money."
Just then they heard voices from the office; voices that belonged neither to the man nor the woman. "Visitors looking for dogs to adopt." explained Preston. Veruca and Preston remained silent, trying to hear what was being said. The first visitors left soon. "Were they really looking for a cat?" "Yes, I think so too." The next visitor came soon and they heard the door to the kennel area open and close.
"Don't you get cramps in this stupid cage? You're quite a bit taller than I" "No. As I told you: Five years of yoga helps." "So what do you do?" "I direct my breath into those joints and muscles of mine that are beginning to hurt or cramp." "My breath goes only in and out of my nose, sometimes my mouth, okay, sometimes also my other end." "Giggle." zapp! "I'd like to teach you the basics, but being locked in a dog cage is none of the typical beginner's positions." They fell silent again, because the visitor and the men had come back into the office. And they had a rather excited dog with them, as far as they could hear. "That sounds like Otto - you know the little pug." "You are right." "That's so good for him. I always had the feeling he has been here far too long." Before his new owner left with Otto, new visitors entered the office. After a few minutes Otto left and the new visitors followed the man into the kennel area.
"Have you got any siblings?" "A brother, Thomas, 2 year older, should have 'babysat' me when I was kidnapped." "But he didn't - what a coincidence." "My parents both run a small electric installation business. I hardly know my grandparents, but certainly not how my great-great-great-grandfather earned his first fortune." "Nothing to be ashamed of. Being born into a rich family is luck … and also an obligation."
They continued to whisper like this until the visitors returned to the office, also with a dog. "Oh, this is Blondie, the German shepherd." "Can you recognize all dogs on the way they bark?" "Most of them. One has time to listen and pay attention. I so hope Blondie comes into a better family. Her previous one must have been traumatic." Veruca remained silent for a while. Then she asked "Have you ever used your diaper?"
"That's a most inappropriate question. Do you honestly think I'd tell you?" Giggle. Zapp! Giggle. Zapp!
"Do you think the accent of the man and the woman is real?" "Yes. One evening the dinner was borscht, made the authentic way. And when Blondie once bit the woman in her arm she dropped her guard and cursed in what sounded to me like Romanian." "How would you know if borscht is authentic and how to tell Romanian from Russian?" "One's family also has a maternal side." "One's family also has a maternal side." Veruca mocked Preston's way of expressing himself. Both giggled a little, hardly worth a zapp!
Soon after that the opening hours were over. The man and the woman entered the storage room, clipped leashes into Veruca's and Preston's collars and led them back to their corresponding kennels.
The following week followed closely the pattern of the first one. The same daily routine, new issues of the same boring magazine, lots of me-time to think. Preston had returned to Woof or Woofwoof as his means of communication during the daily cigarette breaks of their wardens (handlers?). When Veruca and Becky played together, Preston would often join them, turning it into a playful competition of doggishness between the two humans. One day, when Veruca passed Preston's empty kennel, she noticed a book laying there instead of the expected magazines. But how should she ask him about it, if he'd only bark yes or no as an answer. This question would have to wait until next Saturday. Veruca was sure that next Saturday would again find them locked in the cages in the room beyond the office. But it became difficult for Veruca to tell which day of the week it was and how long she had been here already. Another day, when the man was particularly far away from them she whispered to Preston "Have you ever tried escaping from here?" "Woofwoof" "But have you at least thought about it?" "Woof" With his wrapped up paws he pointed at his shock collar and made a very doggish, pitiful whine.
Only one incident was special during this week; it must have been Wednesday or maybe Thursday. Veruca had observed that one after the other dogs were led by the man from their kennels into the office room to the left of her own box. And a few minutes later they were returned - with trimmed fur. They all looked different, some visibly improved, some looking ridiculous. Veruca assumed that the woman was trimming them, not a professional dog groomer. She was shocked when finally the man stopped at her box and unlocked the door. She tried to hide in the rear of her box but a quick Zapp! made her obey. He clipped the leash to her collar and lead her into the office. In its back there was a foldable table, which she hadn't seen before. It had poles protruding from its top and there were leather straps on the poles. Without much ado and apparently little effort the man and the woman lifted her onto the table and began to tighten the straps. She felt suspended. Her knees and paws could still reach the table but with only limited traction. "Don't you dar..." Zapp! "You can't..." ZAPP! Level 3 was enough to turn her silent. The woman picked up a dog grooming machine and switched it on. It made a frighteningly loud buzzing noise.
"Stop! Make one eight, for talking" the man interrupeted the woman. She smiled, stopped the machine and exchanged its clipper guard by a shorter one. When she switched it on again it sounded even louder. What would the other girls in school think? That she had gone alt or queer? How long would it take to regrow her hair? How long would she have to wear a wig? She was close to crying when she heard the machine begin to eat away the long hair in her back and when she felt it slide down onto the table. But then it suddenly stopped. She was released from the straps and climbing down from the table she saw that less than an inch had been cut from her hair. "Just joking." the woman explained, high-fived with the man and the two seemed to enjoy their little prank enormously. She was led back to her kennel and felt actually relieved when the man locked the gate behind her.
Next Saturday's saw Veruca and Preston again silently crouched in their cages in the storage room while visitors came to adopt dogs. "Riffraff and Magenta" Preston whispered. "What?" zapp! "Our wardens. Under their masks I image them like Riffraff and Magenta - the two servants from the Rocky Horror Picture Show." Giggle. Zapp! "Indeed, the woman's accent is spot on."
"I saw you reading a book. Is it any good? I only have these stupid magazines, and they are even old." "I didn't like their magazines either, too bro-y, too frat-boy-ish. "Oh. What is the book about then?" "It's by some medieval scholar who wrote down some good advice for the son of his king." "Sounds boring." "Well, what kind of well-appointed library do you expect to find in a dog shelter? I think I got their only book that isn't about dog grooming, dog training, or dog health. I have it almost finished. Do you want to read it?" "Nah, thanks."
There was a lengthy gap. Veruca had thought about the following several times during the week already, but now she had to gather all her courage to address her idea.
"Preston, hypothetically, how would your family react if you had a girlfriend?" "That's not really your business. But, hypothetically, they'd certainly welcome it. Then they'd only have to replace me by a son who's into girls and could start planning the wedding." "Hypothetically, if you had a presentable girlfriend for parties, family gatherings, proms, social media, Christmas cards, etc." "What do you mean?" "A girlfriend on demand, whenever you need to be seen with a girl at your side. And for the other times - your family surely has means to keep a girl happy and out of the way." "And you would be this hypothetical girl?" "Think of it: We get along reasonably well. And more - like love or even friendship - is not necessary. On the contrary, it would be detrimental to the professional status of our relationship." Veruca was picking up words from Preston's vocabulary.
"What about your parents?" "I don't care about them anymore. They have sent me here after all." "So you plan to move in with my parents?" "No, stupid. You are at your boarding school most of the time, I'd be in mine. You continue to live your life there. I'd live mine, just with a little more pocket money. And for vacations, holiday, etc. we'd give the audience the love-struck teens. You might even kiss me - as long as you keep your tongue to yourself." Preston was equally impressed and steamrollered. "You did a lot of thinking." "Yes. But that's not an answer." "And, hypothetically, if I say no?" "Then, hypothetically, the story 'How Preston spent his summer vacations' might go viral all over social media." A mutual silence commenced. But then the discussion about the details of Veruca's proposal went on for most of the visiting hours.
According to the barking, three dogs found new owners this afternoon. Preston said he had recognized the excited barking of Spot, Bella and Boo.
"It's Saturday, that's when people come to adopt dogs." explained Preston whispered very quietly. "You speak!?" exclaimed Veruca receiving a painful level 2 Zapp!
"Yes, of course I speak." whispered Preston "The shock collars are also voice activated. Rotate the bulky part onto your neck, like in a 5 or 7 o'clock position. There the sensor is least sensitive. When you whisper as quietly as I do you get away with very few level 1 zapps."
Veruca turned the collar as recommended and tried to whisper "Thank you. How do you know this trick?" Indeed, she only got a single level 1 zapp.
"One has time to try things out here. Like a real prisoner." answered Preston. "We will stay here for about four hours. Then the shelter's opening hours are over and the visitors are gone."
"Four hours?" Zapp! This was too loud. Veruca admired Preston how he'd fit into his box that long. Their boxes were exactly the same size but Preston was quite a bit taller than she.
"How can you stay locked in there for so long?" Not a single zapp. "Yoga, five years." was Preston's reply.
"You said you must stay here for four more weeks. That's the end of the summer holidays. Did your parents send you here as some kind of alternative summer camp?"
"Close enough. And you, do you really believe you were kidnapped here and that you're held ransom?" "What do you mean?" "I bet your parents sent you here, just like mine. Maybe staged your transfer in a spectacular way. But I am sure they know very well where you are." Veruca fell silent for a while. "But why would they send me here?" "To better your ways. You tell me."
Veruca noted the way Preston was speaking. Not condescending, but in natural way posh.
And Preston might have been right. How her parents wouldn't at least bargain with her about some summer camp. How they were away on the very day of the robbery. Even how her brother simply left her unattended, not caring that she'd rat on him as soon as their parents return. And the intruders had planned to kidnap her, otherwise they wouldn't have brought that dog cage and the chloroform. These thoughts didn't feel good, not at all.
"What did you do that made your parents send you here, into this dog shelter, not into a nice summer camp?" Veruca tried to steer their conversation back into a more comfortable direction.
"In fact they had sent me to a summer camp in Maine right on my last school day." "So what went wrong?" "Let's just say I messed up. The camp wanted to send me home. But they couldn't, because my parents are in Europe until the end of the summer holidays. So they agreed with my parents to send me here instead." Veruca was shocked. "You must have messed up big!" "Really big." "But you won't tell me?" "No." "May I guess?" "No!" Zapp! "The camp could handle boys who drink or smoke weed, and you don't seem to be doing stronger stuff." "Woof" "You wouldn't steal another kid's pocket money." "Woof" "Something that really triggered them. Like, did someone walk in on you with a guy?" There was no answer from Preston, but the way his whole body cramped together was as good as a 'yes'. Even quieter than before he asked really surprised "How did you know?" Veruca giggled. Zapp! "Which straight guy does yoga and has holes in both earlobes?" "And that gave me away already?" "That and the way you don't look at me." "What?!"
"In the morning, when you go to the bathroom before me and you pass my kennel, you don't try to get a look at my bare chest. The man who holds my leash does. All the boys at school do all the time, some girls also, and even my brother, but he thinks I don't notice. You don't." There was a lengthy pause. "Harrison was the guy. I know him from last year's summer camp. We didn't get caught then. No such luck this year. He got sent home too." "Didn't your parents know?" "My father doesn't care that much about me. He's busy managing the family's investment fund. My mother has always tolerated my soft side. She always wanted a girl, I believe. And I wanted to please her, I guess." "Painting, ballet, theater classes?" "How do you know?" Zapp! Giggle. Zapp! "Stop it!" ZAPP! Laughing out loud. ZAPP! Both of them received a painful, silencing shock from their collars and were afraid that any moment the man or the woman might come to punish them. But they were lucky, they stayed alone in the storage room. Both had to recover and remained silent for a while.
"What will your parents do when you're back with them?" "Nothing." "Nothing?" "I suppose my father is only upset because I got caught, I wasn't discrete enough, got kicked out from the camp. It's undesirable for the family reputation. In the end they will be okay with it. I hope." There was another silence during which Veruca tried to stretch her limbs somewhat. Then it was Preston who started speaking:
"And you? Any idea why you were sent here?" "No." "May I guess?" "No!" zapp! "Well developed general brattiness, about to burgeon into full fledged bitchiness." "How dare you?" Zapp! "Close enough?" Veruca didn't answer but finally asked:
"Why don't you speak during their cigarette breaks? They actually encourage us to." "Resistance? And I don't trust them." "But they look after us - within the limits of their dog shelter." "Yes. Won't get paid if we get damaged bodily or mentally. But still, they shouldn't know more about me than necessary. No fraternization." "Frater..?" "Becoming friends with the enemy."
"Have you got any siblings?" "Not really. Marion, my half sister, is ten year older than me. But she has broken with the family. Left the day she turned 18. Fights capitalism since then." "So your family are capitalists - whatever this means?" "My great-great-great-grandfather was in the railway business. His son made money with the gold rush. His son switched into the oil business and helped the country build tanks and trucks. My grandfather built computers for NASA and my father started a software company." "And you will run an art gallery." Giggle. zapp! "I guess even running an art gallery would be okay with the family values as long as it earns money."
Just then they heard voices from the office; voices that belonged neither to the man nor the woman. "Visitors looking for dogs to adopt." explained Preston. Veruca and Preston remained silent, trying to hear what was being said. The first visitors left soon. "Were they really looking for a cat?" "Yes, I think so too." The next visitor came soon and they heard the door to the kennel area open and close.
"Don't you get cramps in this stupid cage? You're quite a bit taller than I" "No. As I told you: Five years of yoga helps." "So what do you do?" "I direct my breath into those joints and muscles of mine that are beginning to hurt or cramp." "My breath goes only in and out of my nose, sometimes my mouth, okay, sometimes also my other end." "Giggle." zapp! "I'd like to teach you the basics, but being locked in a dog cage is none of the typical beginner's positions." They fell silent again, because the visitor and the men had come back into the office. And they had a rather excited dog with them, as far as they could hear. "That sounds like Otto - you know the little pug." "You are right." "That's so good for him. I always had the feeling he has been here far too long." Before his new owner left with Otto, new visitors entered the office. After a few minutes Otto left and the new visitors followed the man into the kennel area.
"Have you got any siblings?" "A brother, Thomas, 2 year older, should have 'babysat' me when I was kidnapped." "But he didn't - what a coincidence." "My parents both run a small electric installation business. I hardly know my grandparents, but certainly not how my great-great-great-grandfather earned his first fortune." "Nothing to be ashamed of. Being born into a rich family is luck … and also an obligation."
They continued to whisper like this until the visitors returned to the office, also with a dog. "Oh, this is Blondie, the German shepherd." "Can you recognize all dogs on the way they bark?" "Most of them. One has time to listen and pay attention. I so hope Blondie comes into a better family. Her previous one must have been traumatic." Veruca remained silent for a while. Then she asked "Have you ever used your diaper?"
"That's a most inappropriate question. Do you honestly think I'd tell you?" Giggle. Zapp! Giggle. Zapp!
"Do you think the accent of the man and the woman is real?" "Yes. One evening the dinner was borscht, made the authentic way. And when Blondie once bit the woman in her arm she dropped her guard and cursed in what sounded to me like Romanian." "How would you know if borscht is authentic and how to tell Romanian from Russian?" "One's family also has a maternal side." "One's family also has a maternal side." Veruca mocked Preston's way of expressing himself. Both giggled a little, hardly worth a zapp!
Soon after that the opening hours were over. The man and the woman entered the storage room, clipped leashes into Veruca's and Preston's collars and led them back to their corresponding kennels.
The following week followed closely the pattern of the first one. The same daily routine, new issues of the same boring magazine, lots of me-time to think. Preston had returned to Woof or Woofwoof as his means of communication during the daily cigarette breaks of their wardens (handlers?). When Veruca and Becky played together, Preston would often join them, turning it into a playful competition of doggishness between the two humans. One day, when Veruca passed Preston's empty kennel, she noticed a book laying there instead of the expected magazines. But how should she ask him about it, if he'd only bark yes or no as an answer. This question would have to wait until next Saturday. Veruca was sure that next Saturday would again find them locked in the cages in the room beyond the office. But it became difficult for Veruca to tell which day of the week it was and how long she had been here already. Another day, when the man was particularly far away from them she whispered to Preston "Have you ever tried escaping from here?" "Woofwoof" "But have you at least thought about it?" "Woof" With his wrapped up paws he pointed at his shock collar and made a very doggish, pitiful whine.
Only one incident was special during this week; it must have been Wednesday or maybe Thursday. Veruca had observed that one after the other dogs were led by the man from their kennels into the office room to the left of her own box. And a few minutes later they were returned - with trimmed fur. They all looked different, some visibly improved, some looking ridiculous. Veruca assumed that the woman was trimming them, not a professional dog groomer. She was shocked when finally the man stopped at her box and unlocked the door. She tried to hide in the rear of her box but a quick Zapp! made her obey. He clipped the leash to her collar and lead her into the office. In its back there was a foldable table, which she hadn't seen before. It had poles protruding from its top and there were leather straps on the poles. Without much ado and apparently little effort the man and the woman lifted her onto the table and began to tighten the straps. She felt suspended. Her knees and paws could still reach the table but with only limited traction. "Don't you dar..." Zapp! "You can't..." ZAPP! Level 3 was enough to turn her silent. The woman picked up a dog grooming machine and switched it on. It made a frighteningly loud buzzing noise.
"Stop! Make one eight, for talking" the man interrupeted the woman. She smiled, stopped the machine and exchanged its clipper guard by a shorter one. When she switched it on again it sounded even louder. What would the other girls in school think? That she had gone alt or queer? How long would it take to regrow her hair? How long would she have to wear a wig? She was close to crying when she heard the machine begin to eat away the long hair in her back and when she felt it slide down onto the table. But then it suddenly stopped. She was released from the straps and climbing down from the table she saw that less than an inch had been cut from her hair. "Just joking." the woman explained, high-fived with the man and the two seemed to enjoy their little prank enormously. She was led back to her kennel and felt actually relieved when the man locked the gate behind her.
Next Saturday's saw Veruca and Preston again silently crouched in their cages in the storage room while visitors came to adopt dogs. "Riffraff and Magenta" Preston whispered. "What?" zapp! "Our wardens. Under their masks I image them like Riffraff and Magenta - the two servants from the Rocky Horror Picture Show." Giggle. Zapp! "Indeed, the woman's accent is spot on."
"I saw you reading a book. Is it any good? I only have these stupid magazines, and they are even old." "I didn't like their magazines either, too bro-y, too frat-boy-ish. "Oh. What is the book about then?" "It's by some medieval scholar who wrote down some good advice for the son of his king." "Sounds boring." "Well, what kind of well-appointed library do you expect to find in a dog shelter? I think I got their only book that isn't about dog grooming, dog training, or dog health. I have it almost finished. Do you want to read it?" "Nah, thanks."
There was a lengthy gap. Veruca had thought about the following several times during the week already, but now she had to gather all her courage to address her idea.
"Preston, hypothetically, how would your family react if you had a girlfriend?" "That's not really your business. But, hypothetically, they'd certainly welcome it. Then they'd only have to replace me by a son who's into girls and could start planning the wedding." "Hypothetically, if you had a presentable girlfriend for parties, family gatherings, proms, social media, Christmas cards, etc." "What do you mean?" "A girlfriend on demand, whenever you need to be seen with a girl at your side. And for the other times - your family surely has means to keep a girl happy and out of the way." "And you would be this hypothetical girl?" "Think of it: We get along reasonably well. And more - like love or even friendship - is not necessary. On the contrary, it would be detrimental to the professional status of our relationship." Veruca was picking up words from Preston's vocabulary.
"What about your parents?" "I don't care about them anymore. They have sent me here after all." "So you plan to move in with my parents?" "No, stupid. You are at your boarding school most of the time, I'd be in mine. You continue to live your life there. I'd live mine, just with a little more pocket money. And for vacations, holiday, etc. we'd give the audience the love-struck teens. You might even kiss me - as long as you keep your tongue to yourself." Preston was equally impressed and steamrollered. "You did a lot of thinking." "Yes. But that's not an answer." "And, hypothetically, if I say no?" "Then, hypothetically, the story 'How Preston spent his summer vacations' might go viral all over social media." A mutual silence commenced. But then the discussion about the details of Veruca's proposal went on for most of the visiting hours.
According to the barking, three dogs found new owners this afternoon. Preston said he had recognized the excited barking of Spot, Bella and Boo.
Last edited by Jenny_1972 4 days ago, edited 5 times in total.
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Jenny_1972
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Part 4
The following week went as usual - no hair trimming 'pranks' or such - until Thursday morning, when Magenta positioned herself in front of Veruca's box. "Tomorrow parents come, pick you up." That surprised her somewhat since it came sooner than expected. Maybe she had lost track counting the days since her kidnapping. And her parents coming to pick her up, that didn't fit in well with the kidnapping story, that finally confirmed that she had been sent here on purpose. The next morning in the bathroom Veruca found her clothes not only washed but also ironed and when she returned to her kennel it had been tidied up. It seemed Riffraff and Magenta wanted to leave a good impression by her parents. Should her parents recommend their 'kennel service for difficult daughters' to further customers? But she shouldn't entertain such silly thoughts now. The door to her left was already opening and in came Riffraff with both of her parents. He pointed at her kennel and said "Veruca". Her parents got down on their knees in front of the grille door and said predictable things like "Are you okay, darling? It took us so long to find you." and "Oh, poor thing, glad to have you again." - she couldn't remember it that well afterwards because she was making the most important decision of her life so far. She withdrew into the furthest corner of her box and started to growl like she had heard it so often from the dogs when they were angry. "Can speak" Riffraff calmed her down, showing her the remote of her collar between only two fingers, not ready to press any button. But now Veruca started to bark earnestly.
Riffraff unlocked the door. "Don't make a fuzz, we can talk about everything on our way home." said her mother. "Don't be silly and come out." said her father and reached in to get her. She waited until his hand was in the right distance at the right angle, then she shot forward burying her teeth deep in the hand of her unsuspecting father. The taste of blood filled her mouth and her teeth would hurt until the next day (girl's teeth weren't as strong as dog's teeth). But she wouldn't release her bite yet. On the contrary, she started to shake her head with her father's hand in her jaw left and right. Her father cried in pain and tried to pry her mouth open with his other hand. Only now would she release her bite. Her father backed out of her kennel and stood up, blood dripping on his shirt and pants. Her mother quickly handed him a handkerchief. "What have you done to her?" her mother asked Riffraff angrily. "Don't know why crazy today. Always okay." he tried to explain. The handkerchief was already soaking through. "Go office. First aid." he pointed to the door. Veruca's parents went there, but before Riffraff followed them he locked her kennel again. Veruca would later describe the look on Riffraff's face as 'genuinely worried'; he would later tell Magenta that Veruca's face showed 'satisfacție profundă'.
Through the closed door of the office Veruca could hear the voices of her parents, of Riffraff and of Magenta, but she couldn't understand what they were talking about. She had the feeling they stayed longer than it should take to disinfect a wound and dress it. After all they were used to handling dog bites here. Finally all four of them came back, positioning themselves in front of her kennel. "So, I understand you refuse to come with us?" her father asked angrily. "Woof" said Veruca. "Yes" translated Magenta. Her father looked upset, her mother sad. Veruca had expected they'd maybe try to talk some sense into her, maybe just leave her and come back some other day. But to her surprise they went to her right, down the hallway with the other dog kennels. She heard Magenta speaking, introducing various dogs to her parents. Then she heard some excited barking. Finally the four came back to her kennel - with her mother leading Harold, that imbecile Wiener dog, on a leash. "Veruca, I think you know Harold. If you don't come with us now, I'm sure Harold will gladly fill the gap you're leaving. Your brother said he'd prefer a little dog over of a little sister already before you were born." But Veruca remained steadfast. Both her parents said "Farewell" to her and left into the office where Riffraff would probably sign the adoption papers for Harold with them. Only Magenta stayed with her. Locking at her questioningly she asked "You sure?". Veruca's "Woof" sounded somewhat defiantly.
What followed was her first night in the dog shelter in which she didn't sleep well. She hadn't expected how easily her parents would part from her and replace her - of all dogs - with Harold. Were they serious? What would her school say if she didn't return after the summer holidays? Of course, her parents could claim to home-school her now. Would Harold now inherit her room in her parent's house? Had she still a room? Had she still parents? In any case, she had now put all her eggs into one basket, labeled Preston. And what if?
The next morning, during their outdoor recess, Preston was visibly surprised to see Veruca again and he had a hard time not to speak. "Hello Preston!" "Woof" "That were my parents yesterday." "Woof" "They wanted to pick me up. You were right, my kidnapping was staged." "Woof" "I didn't go with them. Made it perfectly clear when I bit my father's hand. In case you're wondering: his agony was the loud cry you've heard." "Woof" "They picked stupid Harold and threatened to take him home instead of me." "Woof" "But I didn't let them manipulate me." "Woof" "Do you know when your parents will pick us up?" "Woofwoof" "Two days." said Riffraff, who had been listening.
The next two days Veruca felt growing anticipation and anxiety. Full of such feelings the boring, monotonous day in her kennel turned unbearable. When finally the office door opened and Magenta came in with Preston's mother, Veruca tried to get a good look at her. She was tall, thin woman, in a beige, perfectly fitting pantsuit, black shiny boots with quite some heel. Her poise spoke of ballet training or a modeling career. Her hair looking like freshly done by a competent hairdresser. And she had a handbag that cost twice as much as the truck of Veruca's parents. More or less what Veruca had expected (and hoped for) and the exact opposite of her own mother. With loud clicks of her heels echoing down the hallway they marched towards Preston's kennel. Veruca had the impression that the dogs fell silent by her impression. Once there, Veruca heard them speaking, but couldn't understand what was spoken. But they talked for a rather long time. Finally they came back and stopped in front of her box. Preston walking upright for the first time, already freed of his shock collar and his paw mittens.
"So you are Veruca ... what an unusual name." Veruca just nodded her head, not sure whether to already say "yes" or still "woof". Standing in front of her kennel, with her tall figure and her heels, her voice seemed to come from incredible far up. "And you want to come with us?" Again just a nod from Veruca. Preston went down on his knees and received the kennel key from Magenta. He opened the door and crawled forward. Then Magenta handed him something small, which Veruca couldn't see. 'Probably the key to my shock collar.' And indeed Preston started to fumble with her collar. But obviously he wasn't unlocking it. When Magenta handed Preston - to Veruca's horror - a leash to clip into her collar she must have seen the questioning look on her face and explained "Fresh batteries". Preston backed out of the kennel and with a tug on her leash made Veruca follow him. His mother declared "You wanted to become my son's fake girlfriend. Sorry, he doesn't need one - and nobody would believe it anyway. But he always wanted a pet, and looking after you might hopefully teach him some responsibility." "But we …" tried Veruca to object. Zapp!
The following week went as usual - no hair trimming 'pranks' or such - until Thursday morning, when Magenta positioned herself in front of Veruca's box. "Tomorrow parents come, pick you up." That surprised her somewhat since it came sooner than expected. Maybe she had lost track counting the days since her kidnapping. And her parents coming to pick her up, that didn't fit in well with the kidnapping story, that finally confirmed that she had been sent here on purpose. The next morning in the bathroom Veruca found her clothes not only washed but also ironed and when she returned to her kennel it had been tidied up. It seemed Riffraff and Magenta wanted to leave a good impression by her parents. Should her parents recommend their 'kennel service for difficult daughters' to further customers? But she shouldn't entertain such silly thoughts now. The door to her left was already opening and in came Riffraff with both of her parents. He pointed at her kennel and said "Veruca". Her parents got down on their knees in front of the grille door and said predictable things like "Are you okay, darling? It took us so long to find you." and "Oh, poor thing, glad to have you again." - she couldn't remember it that well afterwards because she was making the most important decision of her life so far. She withdrew into the furthest corner of her box and started to growl like she had heard it so often from the dogs when they were angry. "Can speak" Riffraff calmed her down, showing her the remote of her collar between only two fingers, not ready to press any button. But now Veruca started to bark earnestly.
Riffraff unlocked the door. "Don't make a fuzz, we can talk about everything on our way home." said her mother. "Don't be silly and come out." said her father and reached in to get her. She waited until his hand was in the right distance at the right angle, then she shot forward burying her teeth deep in the hand of her unsuspecting father. The taste of blood filled her mouth and her teeth would hurt until the next day (girl's teeth weren't as strong as dog's teeth). But she wouldn't release her bite yet. On the contrary, she started to shake her head with her father's hand in her jaw left and right. Her father cried in pain and tried to pry her mouth open with his other hand. Only now would she release her bite. Her father backed out of her kennel and stood up, blood dripping on his shirt and pants. Her mother quickly handed him a handkerchief. "What have you done to her?" her mother asked Riffraff angrily. "Don't know why crazy today. Always okay." he tried to explain. The handkerchief was already soaking through. "Go office. First aid." he pointed to the door. Veruca's parents went there, but before Riffraff followed them he locked her kennel again. Veruca would later describe the look on Riffraff's face as 'genuinely worried'; he would later tell Magenta that Veruca's face showed 'satisfacție profundă'.
Through the closed door of the office Veruca could hear the voices of her parents, of Riffraff and of Magenta, but she couldn't understand what they were talking about. She had the feeling they stayed longer than it should take to disinfect a wound and dress it. After all they were used to handling dog bites here. Finally all four of them came back, positioning themselves in front of her kennel. "So, I understand you refuse to come with us?" her father asked angrily. "Woof" said Veruca. "Yes" translated Magenta. Her father looked upset, her mother sad. Veruca had expected they'd maybe try to talk some sense into her, maybe just leave her and come back some other day. But to her surprise they went to her right, down the hallway with the other dog kennels. She heard Magenta speaking, introducing various dogs to her parents. Then she heard some excited barking. Finally the four came back to her kennel - with her mother leading Harold, that imbecile Wiener dog, on a leash. "Veruca, I think you know Harold. If you don't come with us now, I'm sure Harold will gladly fill the gap you're leaving. Your brother said he'd prefer a little dog over of a little sister already before you were born." But Veruca remained steadfast. Both her parents said "Farewell" to her and left into the office where Riffraff would probably sign the adoption papers for Harold with them. Only Magenta stayed with her. Locking at her questioningly she asked "You sure?". Veruca's "Woof" sounded somewhat defiantly.
What followed was her first night in the dog shelter in which she didn't sleep well. She hadn't expected how easily her parents would part from her and replace her - of all dogs - with Harold. Were they serious? What would her school say if she didn't return after the summer holidays? Of course, her parents could claim to home-school her now. Would Harold now inherit her room in her parent's house? Had she still a room? Had she still parents? In any case, she had now put all her eggs into one basket, labeled Preston. And what if?
The next morning, during their outdoor recess, Preston was visibly surprised to see Veruca again and he had a hard time not to speak. "Hello Preston!" "Woof" "That were my parents yesterday." "Woof" "They wanted to pick me up. You were right, my kidnapping was staged." "Woof" "I didn't go with them. Made it perfectly clear when I bit my father's hand. In case you're wondering: his agony was the loud cry you've heard." "Woof" "They picked stupid Harold and threatened to take him home instead of me." "Woof" "But I didn't let them manipulate me." "Woof" "Do you know when your parents will pick us up?" "Woofwoof" "Two days." said Riffraff, who had been listening.
The next two days Veruca felt growing anticipation and anxiety. Full of such feelings the boring, monotonous day in her kennel turned unbearable. When finally the office door opened and Magenta came in with Preston's mother, Veruca tried to get a good look at her. She was tall, thin woman, in a beige, perfectly fitting pantsuit, black shiny boots with quite some heel. Her poise spoke of ballet training or a modeling career. Her hair looking like freshly done by a competent hairdresser. And she had a handbag that cost twice as much as the truck of Veruca's parents. More or less what Veruca had expected (and hoped for) and the exact opposite of her own mother. With loud clicks of her heels echoing down the hallway they marched towards Preston's kennel. Veruca had the impression that the dogs fell silent by her impression. Once there, Veruca heard them speaking, but couldn't understand what was spoken. But they talked for a rather long time. Finally they came back and stopped in front of her box. Preston walking upright for the first time, already freed of his shock collar and his paw mittens.
"So you are Veruca ... what an unusual name." Veruca just nodded her head, not sure whether to already say "yes" or still "woof". Standing in front of her kennel, with her tall figure and her heels, her voice seemed to come from incredible far up. "And you want to come with us?" Again just a nod from Veruca. Preston went down on his knees and received the kennel key from Magenta. He opened the door and crawled forward. Then Magenta handed him something small, which Veruca couldn't see. 'Probably the key to my shock collar.' And indeed Preston started to fumble with her collar. But obviously he wasn't unlocking it. When Magenta handed Preston - to Veruca's horror - a leash to clip into her collar she must have seen the questioning look on her face and explained "Fresh batteries". Preston backed out of the kennel and with a tug on her leash made Veruca follow him. His mother declared "You wanted to become my son's fake girlfriend. Sorry, he doesn't need one - and nobody would believe it anyway. But he always wanted a pet, and looking after you might hopefully teach him some responsibility." "But we …" tried Veruca to object. Zapp!
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Jenny_1972
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