Rewritten and republished. Originally published on fictionspawn.com December 13. 2016.

They could feel the cold draft from the door opening. With it came fear, running down the hall, hundreds of small animals shrinking in terror. Steps. Slowly down the path. A snort. Spit. He stopped. He was standing in front of her cage. The man. The man of death.

They were four in their cage now. Number twenty-three was lying dead in the corner. He had been for quite a while, he was starting to smell.

The sound of the metal lock. A door opening. She ran in circles, incapable of getting anywhere.

The door closed. It wasn’t her this time. It was number twenty-two, another one of her siblings. He was carried over the floor. The man stopped. Picked up the death stick. The little animal was fighting to get loose. No one had ever escaped.

The man held him up in the air…