A rough life for a human pet

Inspection

I role over in the bed as light starts to shine through the window. I shiver as I realise how cold I am. Even with the warmth of the blankets, I still feel freezing.

A knocking at the door has me jumping to my feet. I wobble slightly as I try and get my balance, a strange dizziness hitting me all of a sudden.

Ignoring the strange feeling, I head over to the door and open it slightly. It's the landlady, and I back up as she shoves the door open. I hate when she just barges in, but I guess there must be a reason.

"Inspection day Flita, gotta make sure you pesky things aren't destroying my property." She says, sounding annoying as I back away and let her walk through the small space.

"Of course, go ahead," I say timidly, nervous after my previous encounters with other Franus.

I watch her carefully as she moves around the area. I don't have much to put around the place, but she looks at everything with a frown.

It's silent as she moves about opening the broken cupboards and checking for dust. We've discussed the issue of how things are broken, but she won't get them repaired or replaced.

Then she heads into the bedroom area where my bed and small table are. I see her duck her head under the bed and pull something out.

She waves it around, and I see a look of annoyance on her face as she stares at me.

"And why is there food under your bed? Are you trying to attract pests or just aiming to annoy me? " she says in a raised voice, making me flinch back.

I look around and then at her hand and see the nutrition bar Draino gave me a few days ago. I forgot that I hid it under the bed, but I guess it doesn't matter now.

My stomach then grows, and I wonder if she would let me have it so I can eat. That idea is soon ruined when she heads out the door.

"I'll excuse this one offense since you've been a decent tenant so far, but don't let me find this again," she says as she heads out the door with my precious food.

I sway slightly again as the door closes. I have to grab the kitchen counter and wonder what's causing this.

I head over to my money stash, and my eyes go wide as I notice some of the money is missing from it. Did she take some while she was looking around? How could she...

Tears fill my eyes, but I wipe them away and head over to the door. I need a job and money if I have any chance of making rent in a few days.

I'm slow as I walk over to the clothes factory I had intended on trying to apply for yesterday. It's so cold, I can pretty much feel it in my bones, and there's already some light snow on the ground.

I make it up to the gate to the business and place my hands against the fence in exhaustion. I'm desperate as I hit against the metal.

"What are you doing here, Flita?" A guard asks as I feel something against my back.

"Work," I say timidly and with exhaustion as I fight to not fall to the ground from the cold.

"It's freezing out and will snow tonight. You best head home and get warm," He says, sounding concerned, but I just sigh and turn around.

It's a gun that's pointed at me. I guess it was the butt of it that was pressed against my back.

"Please, can you let me inside?" I mumble but shake slightly as I see him look down to my wrist.

A skeptical look forms on his face, and I dodge his hand as it reaches for me.

"Hey now, just let me check that bracelet, I'm not gonna hurt you," He says, but I back up, feeling scared.

He has a frown on his face as I back up quickly. I hear him call out, but I'm already running and have no intention of letting him knock me around.

I'm completely out of breath when I finally stop. I lean back against a wall and grumble when I see Milly heading over.

"HI Valor! Man, it's cold. It's my last day. I'm aloud to wonder outside, wanna hang out?" I can barely keep up with what she's saying, but smile and nod anyway.

We walk down a more sheltered road. A thinner one then I would usually travel but it's nice to get some repreve from the cold.

"Sorry about yesterday, I was being too pushy about that stuff. We can just chat about the old days if you want." She says while walking beside me, making me relax.

The last thing I want is her preaching about how amazing the Franus are.

"Yeah, I remember how much trouble we used to get in with Mr George. He would get so red at our antics, " I say, grinning at a memory of him discovering we had put an insect in his cup of tea.

Milly bursts out laughing.

"Oh, or that time we photoshoped a photo of him kissing another teacher." She sniggers, and I do too as I remember that.

He had agreed to raise our grades in exchange for us deleting the image.

"Or what about the time we told Miss Waters he had a crush on her!" I expand, making us both clutch our stomachs as we laugh to the point our stomachs hurt.

We exchange memories till I notice I'm shivering. Looking around, I see it's gotten darker, and we smile to each other.

"You know maybe I could talk to my master and see if you could come over some day, wouldn't that be awesome!" She says happily

My face drops, and I remember the way I've been knocked around by other Franus. I quickly turn around and start running back towards home. I don't want to be in some Franus' home where they can hurt me.

1027 words

Written 1 December 2022

Published 25 March 2022