Tiger

There I was, trying to think the best way to fight back, when I saw a new animal brought in. It was bigger than me. It had stripes, and it was asleep. I saw its aura from the small holes. The glass in my cage prevented me from seeing auras, but I had learned to look the right way to see from the holes. The other animals’ aura shined brightly. I thought that it was similar to me. I growled, but it was still asleep.

During the first night with the other animal there I heard strange voices. Then someone spoke. I recognized the language; it was the same one the people there spoke. I growled. The voice spoke for a while, and suddenly the language was familiar. It was English. ”I know you are different. Don’t worry; we will take you away from here. Be patient, and you will be saved” it said to me. I didn't know how to respond. ”I’m the one that was brought in today. I don’t know if you saw me, but I can smell you in my other form. I can’t believe you have been here for such a long time. I can’t believe how much you have suffered. Can you change forms?” the voice was a male voice. He sounded concerned, compassionate. Not at all like the people in lab coats. I tried to respond, but it was very difficult. I couldn't produce sounds needed for speaking. I didn't understand how he was able to do that. Then he said something I couldn't believe. ”You should transform into human. Then we could talk more. I know you haven’t done that here. Growl if you have done it before”. I was silent, a bit shocked. ” OK, so you have never transformed. It’s not easy to explain, it should come to you naturally. I just picture myself as a human, I focus and then it happens. You can try it now, but if you haven’t mastered it I would advise you to stay in your current form. It’s easier for us. Don’t worry, it’ll take a few days, but they will help us” he explained. I stayed silent, thinking about what I had heard.

A few days later, when the lights had switched off, I felt a presence. I peeked from the holes and saw an aura. It flew across the room, I assumed. Then I heard clacking, and suddenly a naked man was in front of my cage. He opened my cage, told me to follow him and moved to open the door. I followed. In the aura-world I saw his true nature. He wasn't shaped as a human, he was shaped as a feline, and he glowed, just like me. I was weak from not moving in months, so I struggled to walk. My muscles hurt, but I kept on going. Suddenly he stopped. Then he looked at me and ran quietly to a door. He opened it and made a mark that I should follow. I heard walking, so I followed. I noticed that the glowing aura had followed us. ”Hide us”, the man said, and suddenly the aura materialized. There was human-formed creature, still glowing in the aura-world. It did something to us. Our auras got something more, and there was shiny threads going to the creature. We heard walking outside the door, and then someone opened the door. We had tried to hide, but I was sure we were found. I saw the night guard to look at all of us, shut the door and keep going. We moved quietly outside the laboratory. There were some people waiting. They gave a jacket to the man and then we left with them. I was puzzled about all of this action, it was all new to me. I followed these people to a car, jumped in and watched from the back window. I watched as the laboratory went out of sight, and I kept watching. It felt like a dream.

The people took me to a house. It had taken couple of hours to drive there. I had listened to those people talking. They didn't speak English. The man with the glowing aura sat next to me. He didn't speak; he just looked at me with pity in his eyes. He reached his hand to me and petted me. I didn't like his touch and moved away, as far as I could in that small car. He didn't try to touch me after that.

When we arrived to the house only the man with the glowing aura got off. He asked me to follow him, and I did. He walked to the house and opened the door with a key. The lights were on inside the house, even though it was still night. I noticed another man there. He greeted us, and then they spoke about something. ”I believe you need some sleep, please, follow me” the man who had been in the house said. His aura was normal, it didn't glow like mine. I followed him to a room with a big bed. He said that I could sleep there, and left me alone. He left the door open. I walked to the bed and jumped on it. It felt very soft and pleasant. I curled up and closed my eyes. I was so tired.