Milo and Maisie

Chapter Robin Hood and His Merrie Men: No Man's Land

Song: "No Man's Land" - John Williams

The memories would not leave Milo. He dreamt about the first night he and Maisie spent together (Milo slept on her chest), the time she took him to Cleveland Park in Greenville and put him in a baby swing, and that first horrid trip to the vet. He saw when she stood up for him when the mean dog next door picked on him while he learned to walk on the leash. The dreams should've felt beautiful, but they didn't. Maisie was not the fourteen-year-old girl Milo knew during those days. She didn't care for him anymore. It was sad but true.

He awoke to a loud thunderclap and rain pounding the window in the morning. Milo yawned, stretched, and pushed open his cage's door. He yowled when he saw Maisie was not in the room. She abandoned him. Why didn't she wake him like she did the past few days? There was untouched food in his bowl, but Milo refused to eat. He had to leave and find another owner who wouldn't choose a girl over him.

Milo unclipped his collar with his teeth and dropped it at the foot of Maisie's bed. He trotted into the common area and saw Feya, not Maisie, dressed in her costume and fixing lunch. Milo snuck by her and Daisy and ducked under the room's couch. He eyed Feya and the front door.

Feya kneeled and tickled Daisy's chin. "Let's go out before I leave, girl, and then I'll bring you back. You do not want to stand in the rain all day." She stood and pushed her lunch box to the kitchen counter's wall.

"Arf! Arf!" Daisy got underfoot, but Feya stepped over her and approached the front door.

She grasped its handle and pulled it down. "You need to stay here today."

Milo prepared himself. He went low and stretched his paws. As soon as Feya opened the door, he sprinted. Milo rushed by her and Daisy and knocked Feya down.

"Milo!" she yelled, struggling to her feet.

The battlefield unfolded before him. Milo hurried out to the pouring rain, tore past the benches and rock gardens, and found himself in Flamingo's main walking area, buildings surrounding him. He passed confused college students and noticed Feya and Daisy chasing him.

They crashed into a small group of kids, and Feya snatched one of their shoulders. "Milo!"

She could try all she wanted, but nothing would change his mind.

Milo dodged East's pools, the sitting area in front of Apprentice Hall and the Community Center, and the chess game between the buildings. He jumped over one of the security gates to the bus loop.

"What the—?" asked the guards.

Milo turned left at the end of the sidewalk and dashed down a new one aligned with the bus stop and main road. He peered over his shoulder and saw Feya running for the first time.

Milo nearly caused an accident at the crosswalk, where the buses pulled out, but hardly noticed. He hit a golf course with a broken gate around it and hopped over it, too, to lose Feya and Daisy. He crossed a rotten bridge hidden in a grove of trees but was light enough that it didn't break. The bridge did creak, though.

Now trapped in No Man's Land, Milo searched for an escape.

"Milo! Come back! Please!" Feya squeezed through one of the gate's broken doors. Her prosthetic leg became caught, but she released it and darted for the bridge, Daisy close behind.

Fear coursed through Milo's veins. He planted his feet and shouted, "Mrow!" at Feya.

It was too late.

The bridge snapped under Feya's weight. She fell through it and smacked the muddy ground at the hole's base—right onto her prosthetic. It flew off her stump and twirled like a boomerang away from her.