Run Away With Me, Pet Shapeshifter

A 'Home'

My new captor led me down the sidewalk leading away from my old prison. Was she leading me to a new one? I couldn't tell. Unfortunately, misguided people with good intentions could still hurt those they try to help. I've run into far too many people who thought locking me in a cage was in my best interests. This Alvar could be leading me to my death.

She walked me down the street several blocks before stopping dead in her tracks. This startled me for a moment, as we'd been going for a few minutes without pauses. I nearly bumped into her when she whipped around to look at me. I took this as an opportunity to try and make sense of this alien. Again, she didn't seem malicious, or selfless. She didn't expect anything specific from me, which all but forced me to be myself.

I did, however, notice something new. She wasn't really wealthy. Usually, my owners are either wealthy or malicious. As much as I wanted my people to be as common as an everyday human, we were still rare, and therefore fetched a higher price. No one bought a Cuckooline unless they had plenty of money to spare or wanted to turn a profit. Her clothes were raggedy. Granted, so were mine most of the time, but I wasn't her. She didn't live in the woods, living off berries, roots, and tree bark. She had spent her own money on me, but her clothing was torn.

"My name is Liana." She spoke after several seconds of silence between the two of us. Of course, I was always silent. Liana's name made no sense to me at the time. I had no ability to understand it properly, as most names cannot be given emotions, and therefore couldn't be as much as thought of by my people. Instead, I associated that sound (lee-ah-nah) with this new alien. My lot never forgot a face, no matter how short of a time we had seen it or how long it had been. I decided I'd have to devise a way to show Liana what my name was. I hadn't so much as heard it in English since before the "catalyst", but I knew it just the same.

"We're almost home, you have to be good. It took a lot to get them to let me have you, they have to like you, ok?" I nodded. Liana seemed very concerned when she told me this, almost... Scared? I didn't like the prospect of anyone being scared of their own parents. It takes a nasty kind of person to make their own kid be genuinely scared of them.

We walked together down another street, this one seemed shabbier and poorer than the one I'd come from. We passed houses with junk in their yards, angry Howlers chained to trees in some of them. I wished I could free the poor beasts, but now was not the time. I was not only unable to free them, but something about this girl seemed... Off. She appeared to be a nice person, but I didn't quite understand her.

House after house were passed, and they got worse and worse. Liana just have saved for ages to get me. Years and years of penny pinching and odd jobs had to have gone into purchasing me.

We finally arrived at a small, torn up house. The yard was dead, the blue grass had gone grey. The drive way was cracked beyond any sort of repair, I doubted any car could park there now. Several of the Windows were broken, particle board covering them. They house seemed in no way livable, not even by the dead tree that stood alone in the yard, amongst broken bottles and the like. It was immensely sad. I had many children by this point, I couldn't imagine raising a child there. I'd rather raise an infant on the branches of a tree than that place.

"Come on, I can't be home late." There was that fear again. I followed her inside the shack, hoping I wouldn't be met with more gloom inside. I

Published 1/20/18