My Pet Human {UNDER SERIOUS EDITING}

Car Trip

'Don't you wish you could go back to when everything was simple?'

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~Colton~

"My dad's name was Alexander. He looked... sort of like me but his hair was brown, not blonde like mine. And we... we were best friends." Ben begins, his milky eyes faraway. "We used to do everything together... swimming, kayaking, bushwalking, soccer." He glances down at me. "Do you know where Piecena is, Colton?"

"No," I answer, cursing myself for sounding like a clueless freak. I can feel Charlene's breath tickle the inside of my elbow, where she's leant beside me. I think she fell asleep, but I can never really tell.

"Piecena was at war a few years ago. It's in the middle of Pangaea, a few hours north of where we live, which is Meridia. My Dad served as a soldier there in The Great Laquanian War, like most of our other men. See, Laquania was at war with each other between the North and South." Ben continues in a soft voice. Truthfully, I've never heard of any of these areas, apart from maybe Pangaea a few times... I can't remember. But my automatic response as a pet is to listen to what an owner has to say so, well, I have no option.

"Last year, he told me I was the man of the house now, and that I should protect mum with my life. Dad was going to Piecena, see? He'd volunteered as a soldier. T-h-he l-last thing-g-g he s-s-said to me w-was..." Ben breaks off, tears glistening his eyes. Lilly's crying too from the front seat. David looks like he's seen a ghost. His knuckles are white against the steering wheel. As much as he hates me, I've grown to like Ben's stepdad. At least he abides by the human laquanian separation. It makes the whole system less confusing.

Ben calms himself down and finishes in a whisper. "He told me he loved me. And that he'll bring me back a souvenir from up North. It was a month later when we found out he'd perished on the battlefield."

I don't know what to say. I mean, literally. What is a battlefield? "I am sorry, Ben." I say instead. "I never knew my father. He worked in the human breeding factory and is most likely dead by now." The Breeding Factories never stock human men older than forty. If my father were still alive, he'd have escaped the factory. That much was unlikely.

"Oh." Ben looks sheepish. "I must sound like I have a perfect life, to you. You've been through so much, Colton, and I'm just..." he swallows. "The reason I wanted a pet human was because I needed someone to talk to, after my dad died. Now I'm here talking to you... you've just..." He can't finish, but I know what he's trying to say.

He's ashamed for taking the loss of his dad to his head, when I've been hurt, abused and neglected my whole life. That's just how we are, though. As humans. We're not meant to have fun, or enjoy ourselves. Our purpose is to entertain, not experience. "It is ok." I tell him, trying to sound reassuring. "You can talk to me and I will understand." I wince. That sentence came out almost robotically. I hate it when I sound like something so unnatural.

"Thank you, Colton." Ben smiles, his enormous face as wide as a billboard. I smile back. Malroy jolts awake from beside us and blinks to clear her eyes. Instantly, she fumbles for the black purse in her lap and pulls out a blue plastic needle, which she jabs into her finger. My mouth hangs agape as she pushes blood from the fresh wound and slips it onto a plastic sheet connected to a small device.