~Pet~
Master had gotten a new pet a few days ago.
It was a scruffy little russel terrier pup who was mad when the master was mad, happy when the master was happy.
Whumpee watched as the master preened his new pet, doted on it like never before with whumpee. The little puppy ate from his hand and slept on the master’s bed and got groomed with a sparkly little plastic brush that whumpee could only dream of having.
And sometimes it kept bark bark barking at night, and all whumpee wanted to do was yell at the pup before it got them both whipped till their bones peeked through their flesh.
But that never happened.
Everyday at noon now, the master would take the pup out on a walk and leave whumpee locked up in their own cage.
“Only good pets go on walks,” he would chuckle, spinning on his heel before walking off.
Whumpee would be left alone.
By day five, the little puppy had found one of master’s fedora hats and wrestled with it. Whumpee saw as the pup ripped the rim of the hat and tried to help, pulling the hat away from the mutt. The pup began to bark and bark and bark and the master came to see what had happened. He saw whumpee with the hat and the pup sitting obediently.
“Master-“ whumpee whined, realizing what would happen. They shook their head, taking a step back, to escape, to run what would come next.
Master beat them that day. And the pup watched from the corner, bark bark barking.
Day after day, whumpee watched as played with this new toy. The master was good to the dog, so good. Whumpee wanted it to be them that the master stroked, the master prized and admired.
Their throat closed tight, their face burned in embarrassment, but they raised their head and let out a shy bark. The sound tumbled from their mouth, awkward and wrong.
The master sneered at them, and pulled whumpee close by their collar.
“Don’t misunderstand me, whumpee. This is my companion, and you are nothing better than a broken toy.” He pulled out a muzzle, tightening it over whumpee’s maw. “Don’t you ever try that again.”
The pup watched and began to bark, bark, bark, as if it were laughing .