Dog Fights
Ryan landed hard. The training mats were supposed to be springy; but they were old and worn. He grunted as a hand was offered to help him up. He had barely gathered his bearings before his opponent struck again. He was on the floor once more.
The crowd jeered and barked. Canines loved a fight between humans. There’s something more aggressive in the way humans fight. Ryan often wondered if it was down to the amount of a humans body that was vulnerable to attack. Dogs fought face on and attacked the face. Humans fought face to face and have the length of their bodies exposed. Ryan found he could only protect his face when an opponent became relentless.
He stood up again, stepping off the mat for a quick breather. He looked around the hall. There were only three fights taking place today, including the one he was in. The crowd was small, only thirty or forty viewers. Mostly dogs.
He saw Benny watching him from the front row. His eyes sharp. His ears up. His teeth barred. Benny was Ryan’s financial backer.
Ryan never asked where the money came from. Dogs weren't supposed to have money. They weren’t supposed to have anything. In most circles dogs were seen as the inferior species. Regardless of their rights.
Ryan stepped onto the mat again. His mind was still on Benny’s face, he didn’t see the trick his opponent played. He went to block a kick except he missed his opponents true motives and was struck in the side of his head. He was out cold.
Ryan woke up on a cold floor. His head pounding. Something frozen was next to his head. He could smell ‘wet dog’. His stomach turned. He threw up some bile, his stomach empty of food.
A dog made a sound similar to a laugh. Ryan looked up to find Benny watching him. He had lost his second fight of the week. Benny would not be impressed to have watched his investment fail.
Ryan sat up holding the frozen slab of meat against his head. He looked around the room and felt an edge of uncertainty. He’s in Benny’s house. Ryan knows being here is a crime. ‘Humans are not to enter the living quarters of un-chipped dogs’. The law was designed to protect humans from vicious dogs however it just enforced segregation between the species.
Benny trotted into another room leaving Ryan to assess the damage to his body. He could hear clattering and banging coming from the room Benny entered. Benny returned with a bowl. He placed it near to Ryan and pushed it towards him.
Ryan looked at the contents of the bowl. It was kibble.
“I am not eating that” Ryan said.
Benny snickered. “That’s all I have” the voice box spoke for him. Another thing that was illegal.
“Why’d you bring me here?”
Benny didn’t respond. Ryan imagined him shrugging if he were a human.
Ryan looked around the room. It was bare of everything a human house would have. No furniture. No carpet. No curtains.
Benny wandered over to a doorway. “You coming?”
Ryan stood up slowly and followed the canine into a room. He was surprised at the size of the place.
This room had a pile of blankets and cushions. Ryan imagined this to be a bedroom.
Benny stood by the wall, waiting for Ryan to step closer. He lifted a paw to a place along the wall that looked no different to the rest to Ryans eyes. The wall disappeared revealing a new room. The walls and ceiling were covered in sound proof material and the floor had a plastic sheet. Ryan’s heart rate increased with trepidation. Was he about to die?
“This is my training room” Benny’s voice box spoke for him. “It can be anything you want it to be.” Benny stepped into the room and it immediately changed into a field full of blue butterflies.
Ryans mouth fell open.
“I designed it myself.”
Ryan stepped into the room. It changed into a beach. Waves lapping against the shore. The heat of the sun beating down. The taste of something fruity on his lips. Ryan was astounded. It was an engineering feat.
The room changed again. The training room where Ryan had lost. Blood stained the floor.
“You know what you did wrong.” Benny said.
Ryan nodded feeling the side of his face remembering the impact from his opponents punch. He had been careless. He had let his guard drop.
“You will train here, where I can watch you.”
Ryan laughed. The idea of training here sounded absurd. “I can’t train here. I’m breaking the law just being here. Not to mention the laws you must have broken to make this thing.”
Benny growled. “Laws are only words. Your kind use them to punish us. They punish you too.”
Ryan couldn’t count the number of times he had been in a not-strictly-legal situation. But he had paid for them, at least most of them. The ones he had been caught in the act of doing.
“Why butterfly’s?”
The room changed back into the first thing Benny had shown him. The grass came up to Ryans knees. He could smell the wild flowers and feel the breeze on his skin. He closed his eyes soaking up the sun. It felt so real to him.
Benny barked.
Ryan opened his eyes wide in fear, dogs were not allowed to bark. He remembered the sound proofing in the room and felt a little calmer. He looked around the field for Benny.
The grass was the perfect height for Benny to hide. He found a perfect spot and pounced at the nearest butterfly, startling them all to take flight. He jumped up and tried to catch them to no avail. He let his true nature take over and he ran through the tall grass and found a patch to roll around in.
Ryan looked on with fascination. He had never seen a dog act this way before. To Ryan’s eyes Benny was happy.
Ryan lay down in the grass. He looked up at the blue sky and the fluffy white clouds passing by. He could understand Bennys pleasure with the room. He hoped this was how training would be from now on.
This is my entry to @tygertyger ‘s Electric Dreams contest. The rules are available here.
Image from pixabay