Oscar
His master opened the door. His master told Oscar to go outside to take a shit.
Oscar trotted outside, intending to take a shit. But, once outdoors, there were so many fresh sights and smells to explore that he forgot.
His master stood in the doorway, watching as Oscar aimlessly sniffed, roamed and rooted around the yard. Finally, his master called Oscar back inside the house.
Again indoors, Oscar ate, then took a short nap. He woke up later, still needing to shit.
Gripped by the discomfort, Oscar forgot about yesterday and all the other beatings from all the days before. Oscar awoke, overwhelmed by the need for relief, so he shit on the carpet again to alleviate the acute strain.
From across the room, his master had been watching and waiting. His master sighed and shook his head in feigned disbelief. He raised ominously from his chair. His master’s eyes raged yellow and his teeth fully seethed.
Oscar panicked. Relieved from the tension of needing to shit, there was now room for Oscar to remember what came next.
“Stupid dog always shitting on the carpet,” his master screamed as he lumbered across the room.
Oscar retreated to the same corner as every other day. He cowered and shivered and trembled in terror.
His master grabbed the broomstick and beat Oscar mercilessly. Oscar wailed in pain and panic as the wood struck bone and tissue. It was the same as yesterday. The same as countless days before. And surely the same as tomorrow.
After the beating, Oscar limped into his bed to lick his wounds and eventually fall asleep from the agony and exhaustion of another beating. Later, he would awaken to eat again, then drag himself back to bed – still sore, bruised and scabbed from the day’s assault.
Sometimes, between eating and taking his beatings, Oscar dreams of running away. There is no chain or fence keeping him inside the yard where he never shits. But, even in his dreams, he realizes, without his master, there is no guarantee of his next meal or anywhere as comfortable to nap as inside his master’s home.
In the morning, his master will again open the door and instruct Oscar to take a shit outside. And, again, Oscar will be overwhelmed at all the sights and scents of his few minutes outdoors.
And, again, just like every other day, Oscar will not shit outside.
mrobins71 