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table, and ran to the exit.

  “No puppy!” The woman said, jumping forward, but I dodged her, and ran out the door.

  It was the long white hallway again. The tall creators stared down at me, until one finally stopped in front of me, and reached down to grab me, a frown planted on their face.

  “How did you get away?”

  I bared my teeth, as a force began to build up inside me. If there was a more appropriate time for this, it would have been then. So I released this force, and suddenly I screamed, yelled, barked. Surprised the tall creature jumped back, and I dashed forward. If I came from one side of the hallway, let’s see what’s on the other side. I ran as fast as I could, my claws skidded on the tiled floor a few times, but that didn’t stop me from racing to my goal. I was met by a large room, but the contents in the room were of no importance to me. There was a frame, a door. A large glass door that showed me what I was in search for, the world outside.

  I rushed forward, I was almost there. I could hear the birds chirping, the wind blowing slightly on the trees, but my dreams were shattered as long fingers curled around my body, and I was lifted into the air. Turned to face the woman who’d violated me earlier with a frown on her face, I barked, kicked, and swung my paws around, until she’d dropped me into the hands of a tiny creature. The tiny creature with pony tails in her hair smiled at me.

  “Your new name shall be Teddy. Teddy and I shall become the bestest of friends,” she said, “right Teddy?”

  My tantrum held, and I stared at the girl, her big eyes staring back at me. The tall woman next to her also smiled at me, and leaned over to pat me on the head. Her hands felt soft, and gentle.

  “Teddy sounds like a lovely name, let’s take him home,” she said.

  The little girl squeezed me tightly, and the two led me out of the building. I looked back at the evil creatures, some frowned, some smiled, others uninterested. The little girl patted at my head, and began humming a cheerful tone, as my surroundings suddenly became brighter and clearer. The world outside smelled so nice, and looked just as wonderful as it did through the window. So many sites to see, but at this point I was uninterested. The warmth I felt through that window, I felt every time the little girl smiled at me. It wouldn’t be so bad to go with this little girl.

  Glue

  Victoria is a loner. In her 9th grade classes there is no one to talk to. She sits in the library during lunch time to read the comics in the comic section. During lectures she prefers to stealthy put headphones in her ears. Around her classmates are happily announcing which college they will be applying to. Victoria’s home room teacher sits her down after school with a concerned look on her face.

  “Victoria, you haven’t filled out your sheet for which colleges you’d like to attend,” Her teacher says, placing the empty sheet in front of Victoria.

  Victoria sighed, and removed her headphones, “I’m not going to college,” she said.

  “Victoria, you have enough credits, you’ve placed 4th in the entire school, and you have enough potential to go to any college you want. Can you at least think about it?” Her teacher slightly pushes the paper toward Victoria, and urges her to take it home to give it more thought.

  The walk home is unbearably long, but that’s Victoria’s favorite part of the day. It’s just her, the cars rushing pass her, and her music selection on her iPod.

  Victoria flips through a number of songs, and chooses one to match her current surroundings. The sky wasn’t too bright, and the weather wasn’t too hot. The few trees that shook to the breeze slightly seemed to sway in motion with her song, and seeing such a thing made Victoria light up. This is the only time where Victoria could truly have time to herself, and truly smile.

  At home Victoria is the only child that doesn’t belong. Around 3 younger siblings, Tim Sam and Kim, Victoria is the only one with a separate father. Going to a home where her parents didn’t care if she did or not isn’t her idea of a happy place, especially when the two are always yelling and arguing. Somehow Victoria couldn’t bare thoughts of running away, or not coming home, although she wanted to. It was everyday she’d come home and those thoughts would fill her head, but the minute she opened her front door, those thoughts always seemed to disappear.

  Once she stepped into her front yard screams could be heard from inside. Victoria sighed heavily, and stepped up to the front door. She pushed her keys into the slot, and slowly turned the door knob. The door immediately pushes open from the inside, and two small children greet her.

  “Victoria!” Sam, Victoria’s four-year-old sister says.

  Tim, Victoria’s 8-year-old brother smiles as he sees his older sister. The two-little one’s pull Victoria into the house, and follow her as she walks through the house to get to her room.

  “How was your day Victoria?” Tim says.

  “It was okay, how was your day Tim?” Victoria says as she lifts Sam into her arms.

  “I got a 90 on my test in Science today, I could have gotten a 100, if I’d payed more attention when you were helping me study. Sorry.”

  “Tim, a 90 is a good grade you know.”

  “Tim is to much a smarty pants” Sam says.

  Tim rolls his eyes and Victoria laughs to herself. The three walk through the kitchen where they see the youngest, Kim who has barely reached 9 months, alone in her booster chair. Victoria puts Sam down, and presses her lips together.

  “Can you guys watch Kim while I go get changed?” Victoria asks, and her younger siblings nod in response.

  Victoria rushes to her room, and takes a long pause after opening her bedroom door. It’s a mess, and Victoria didn’t leave her room this way. It looked as if someone dug through her drawers trying to look for something, and threw everything on the floor. Her makeup, perfume bottles, deodorant, and any extra clutter were sprawled all over her vanity. All Victoria could do was sigh at the site, sigh, and clean it all up. It wasn’t Victoria’s doing, but it was now her mess.

  After cleaning her room, and getting dressed, Victoria headed out to find the culprit. Without complaining about it to her birthmother, and step father Victoria thought the best solution would be to ask what her siblings wanted from her room.

  The three siblings were no longer in the kitchen, and instead Victoria’s mother, Mary, was there. The moment she spotted Victoria she rushed over to her, and handed her Kim.

  “You take Kim for a while, there’s something important I need to take care of,” her mother says.

  “Mom wait. There’s something I have to–”

  “I said I have to deal with something Victoria!”

  With her final words said, Victoria’s mother left. Victoria looked at her little sister and smiled.

  “I’m sure you’re not the one that went into my room.”

  Victoria, with baby in hand, walked into the living room, where she saw Tim. Tim sat silently reading on the coach. The living room was normally the place to stay away from, because the children’s parents always argued here, but today they relocated elsewhere. Tim took advantage of this, and spent a short time reading.

  Victoria walks up to her brother.

  “Hey Tim, did you go in my room today?”

  Tim looks away from his book, then up at his sister with a small smile.

  “No,” he says, then stands up, “I don’t find it necessary to go into your room if you’re not in there. Do you want to play chess with me?”

  The moment Victoria agrees his smile grows, and missing teeth are revealed in an adorable fashion.

  Tim goes back to his room to pull out his chess board. It was a digital board that Victoria had bought him for his birthday. She’d wanted him to still play against a computer, if she wasn’t around to play the game with him herself. Tim made way on the coffee table, while Victoria placed Kim on the couch.

  Victoria stares at her brother’s eager face as he makes his first move, then she proceeds to follow after him. The game continues in silents until their mother comes out a
nd sees their game. She grins widely as she picks up Kim.

  “Oh Victoria are you playing chess with your brother? He’s good isn’t he,” their mother says, and Tim immediately frowns, “he’s never lost against anyone before. I bet even you will have a hard time. He’s good enough to play in championships, if there are any. I’m sure there are.”

  Victoria found herself now trapped. This was the first time someone would be here to watch their game, and she suddenly became tense, especially since their mother was expecting Tim to win. Taking advantage of her emotions Tim moved his piece and called check. Victoria looks up at her brother’s face surprised. His face was suddenly sullen, but somehow almost looked angry, completely different from when they were alone. Victoria pressed her lips together, and looked at the game properly. She looked up and smiled at her brother.

  “Tim, didn’t I tell you before to look at all pieces, and think carefully?” Victoria says, picking up her knight piece and placing it into a position for her to call check mate. Tim, wide eyed, looked at the board and slowly realized his mistake. He looks up at his sister and smiles.

  “I’ll probably never be as good as you,” Tim says cleaning up his pieces, “even so I hope we can play again tomorrow.”

  “Don’t say that Tim you’re only 8. You have plenty of room to grow and beat me. Maybe that day will be tomorrow.” Victoria says getting up.

  “Victoria, shouldn’t you at least