Random short stories for GCSE

Freedom

I see them everyday. The same chubby, fleshy faces pressed against the glass. The same screaming and shouts of frantic enjoyment that bring upon me frantic fits of annoyance. The same mockery and hysteric laughter directed at me and my family; all we're doing is trying to rest in our prison like home.

I grow tired towards the end of the day and I'm fed up with the daily routine: 8am, open; 1pm, feeding time; 3:30, our pathetic little show. This repetition makes the skin under my neat fur prick my heart. But I do look forward to the end. All the children, whose faces smothered in many coloured condiments and sugar, finally leave and carry their wailing home. Their parents, who do nothing but grunt an occasional, "wow that's nice honey,"get to leave and listen to the irritable children- taking over my day-job.

It's dark now. I can just see the moon out the corner of my cage- as if tempting me. I want to reach my paws up and cling onto it, pulling me away to a better place like one of those frivolous balloons the children always lose.

I want to be free.

A sudden sharp noise catches my attention off to my left. I tilt my head inquisitively and squint my eyes to get a better look, but it's clouded with darkness. I saunter vaguely in that direction to investigate. The others haven't been disturbed by the noise so I tread carefully not to wake them. I should be apprehensive but curiosity is filling me up- as if I'm a young cub again. I find it. The noise was the heavy metal door. The door to the outside; to freedom. It's opened.

I don't hesitate and swiftly make my way out into the cool air of the restful evening. The zoo lies in quiet contemplation, as is preparing for the madness of the foreboding morning. Everywhere is completely still and quiet and everything I want. I venture further away from my cell, labeled "Brown Bear enclosure," and make my way along the narrow gravel paths- my overly large paws crunching with every step.

I have been held in this cursed place for seven years but never have I seen the strangeness beyond my own territory. The monumental cages of the bird enclosures creep up into the sky, as ivy races to catch along its side. Beams upon beams lay in monkey's home, like a fireplace awaiting a careful hand. The monkeys themselves remind me of the humans. This sickens me on a small proportion, but the way their bodies entangle and weave together as they rest on one another shows a closeness the humans could never touch.

It's all before my eyes, everything I've never seen before and it's making my head spin with possibility. Great cats of whom I've only heard of in tales, now tamed by the careful hand of sleep, who strokes them as they dream. One such lion briefly rises from his slumber and opens his powerful jaw. I expect- as I've only heard from a distance on many occasions- a beastly roar which could wake the entire land and command them awake. But only a pitiful yawn trudged its way out into the air before sleep placed its hand back on the cat and wished it a good night.

After hours of scavenging around and emerging myself in all the zoo's night life, I finally make it.

The main entrance.

It stands ominously in the dark evening as is a gate that leads straight to hell. It's red brick walls act as guards to keep back the fire from the outside and keeps Satan's beasts from breaking free. But tonight one of these creatures is going to get out.

I place my paws on the soft bricks but find no way to climb up. I try the other side but find no luck there either. Hope starts to disperse from my heart. What is I have to say? What if I have to meet my end in hell" I turn my head mournfully to go back, but then I see something out of the corner of my eye: reigniting my hearts passion. A bench. I can stand on it and pull myself out of this land if damnation. I will be free!

It takes no time at all to claw myself over. Upon my landing I'm hit with a wave of new smells and exciting opportunities. My heat races as it tries to catch up with my paws as I sprint away. Relief breathes down my lungs as the thought of freedom echoes through my mind. I'm away and I will never have to see that zoo everyday. No more humans, no more children just freedom.