I used to be an entertainer .
A ventriloquist, more precisely . I had all sorts of puppets, which I modeled off of specific others that I saw often on the streets where I performed . I used my puppets to poke fun at these people, as a sort of joke . I was funny, people laughed at my puppets, threw me loaves of bread or spare change . I was well-known throughout the marketplace, and it was also known that I hadn't a real home .
Yes, I was poor, very much so . I lived off of the scraps that people threw to me, able to make new puppets only by taking bits and pieces from older ones, or by someone paying me especially to make a certain puppet of someone .
And to make up for being poor as dirt, I had to be sneaky, I had to be clever . Another talent of mine . I could sneak into any establishment, steal any number of things I needed, and get out without anyone noticing . And how could I manage this, you ask ? It was because I had the best hearing of anyone in our entire village . But I couldn't let that be known . It was the way of our village, that females were weaker and daintier than males, and we often needed assistance from them . I was one of the few homeless women; most of the others weren't strong enough to survive on the streets .
And let me tell you why .
Winter came, on what must have been my fifth year . Winters in the streets were nothing short of harsh, freezing, and deadly . Everyone was hungry . Everyone needed shelter from the snow . Everyone wanted what the other guy had . And this winter had started out worse than the last .
It was the dead of night . Cloudy skies shielded the moon from view; a blizzard was just starting . I collected all my things, and headed down a back alley, toward an old warehouse at the edge of the village . There were a lot of hiding places there; I'm sure I've shared nights there with at least ten other canines .
I couldn't see too well that night, so I let my ears guide me . Of course, this wasn't the easiest task, with the wind raging in my ears . I walked straight into a huddled group of males, who were rather pleased with my presence .
"Ay ! Who's this interruptin' our meals ?" one of them shouted . I noticed that their meal consisted of a tiny chunk of stale bread, a leaf of lettuce, and a street rat .
"Oy, s'my mistake fellas," I rambled off in a fake village accent that I used to disguise myself . Everyone knew my voice . "I'll be startin' no trouble heres, I'll be on my way ."
"Ahh, no lookit, it's that little puppet girl from the market," another mumbled . It appeared one of them at least wasn't as stupid as anticipated . This sparked more interest from the other two, and they stood, prowling toward me . I dropped my puppets, and the biggest one crushed them into the snow with a giant paw . A low growl rose in the back of my throat . He lunged at me, pinning me to the ground . I snapped my jaws shut on his muzzle, and he yelped, shaking me away like a ragdoll . The next thing I knew, they were all coming at me, claws and teeth and muscle and violence and pain and blood--
And then I broke free, dashing away as fast as my injured body would carry me, running, running ...
---
During that little skirmish, one of them had slammed my head against the side of a brick building, and the trauma had caused me to lose my hearing . I was deaf . I was injured . I was angry .
I went back to the market the next day, after the blizzard had passed . I was lost without my ears, I couldn't stand to live this way . So before I died, I destroyed the brutes who did this to me .
I crawled through the crowds, to the place where I knew the three males would be lounging: right in my usual spot on the curb . I didn't bother to speak to them, because I wouldn't be able to hear their responses . Instead, in the dead silence that was now my world, I threw myself at them, sinking my teeth into the back of the nearest one's neck . I felt it as he died, and then I felt the other two pinning me to the ground . I lashed out, with more power and bloodlust than I had ever felt in my entire life . I painted the snow red with my anger, and just as the third male had given out his last breath, my life ended as well . The authorities must have gotten me before I made a massacre out of the whole marketplace .
And now I'm stuck here . In nowhere . No one can see me . No one can hear me . I can't hear anything either . I watch the entire world continue on without me . I can travel anywhere I want on this planet, I don't need to rest, I don't need to eat . I'm dead . But I'm nothing .
And I'm alone in this silent world .
--To Be Continued--