Once upon a time
Once upon a time
There was a girl
And the girl was quiet
She didn't have any friends
She wore her hair in pigtails
She was ten
Once upon a time
There was a dog
And the dog was quiet
It was a frightened dog
It lived with a frightening man
It feared the man
The man beat the dog
Every day
The girl had no one
Every day
In the morning
The girl's mother would leave for work
The girl would go to school
The school day would pass
A blur
In the morning
The man would beat the dog
For the mess it had made
He wouldn't go to work
He'd sit in front of the TV
Drinking beers
In the evening
The girl would make her own dinner
Her mother still at work
She never asked what her mother did
She knew not to
In the evening
The man would beat the dog
For making a small noise
While he watched wrestling shows
Drinking beers
At night
The girl would sleep
Her dreams would be empty
The night swallowing any colour they might have had
Until she woke
And did it all over again
At night
The dog would sleep
Starting awake at every slightest noise
Afraid
Afraid
And wake in the morning
To more of the same
The days went by
If this was a happy story
The dog would run away
And find the girl
And they would play
In a field somewhere
Where dandelions grow
Under a bright blue sky
And they would run away together
And live
Happily
Happily
Forever after
But no such luck
The girl lived her life in the same way
And grew
And became just like her mother
The dog finally snapped
And bit the man's hand
And he beat it to death
The end