Imagine (Completed)

Two

No hell below us

Above us, only sky

*******

My parents made us move to another park to escape the Kymari. We heard they are not ever going to let Tasha go. They are keeping her to hunt for the shadow monsters, Sicora. Again, the reports are conflicting about how they treat her.

I'm not too fond of the new park, but I have no choice as I'm only six months old. Thankfully, we are returning as the Kymari found us here, too. Since there is always safety in numbers, we will return in a few days.

I can't wait to find a mate and get out on my own. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, and they love me. I wish I could talk to Tasha, but the mindlink doesn't seem to reach for me due to my age and how far away she is.

My friends say she is treated well, but my parents refuse to believe that. They cannot see past their own experience in captivity.

Over the last month, I have watched the aliens, and I see nothing we should be so afraid of. I heard Drake tell the others in the link that we are now protected, and the only way the Kymari will keep us is if we get hurt or abandoned by the flock.

So, why are we so afraid?! They want to ensure we are safe and have what we need. Tasha is like a spy for us as they talk openly in front of her. We know everything as it happens! This is insanity.

*******

"Tasha is free! If you are gold-colored, you need to hide. They are entering the park to look for her!"

I jumped off the rock I was sunbathing on when Drake's call came through the mindlink. I'm green, so it's not an issue.

"Clover! I want you to come back home now!" There's my mom, right on cue.

"Can I please hug Tasha first?" I ask.

"Clover! Home! Now!"

I shrug my scales in annoyance but head to our burrow. I'm sure I'm stuck inside until they find her or stop searching.

I hear people talking to her over the mind link a little while later.

"Tasha, can you tell us exactly what happened while you were gone? If one of us gets caught, it might be best to know what to expect." One lady asks. Others raised their voices, asking Tasha to tell her story, so she did. It was so different than what I was told.

(Tasha's Story)

"I woke to a cast on my wing. I was in a cage with meat and water bowls. I knew the water was drugged, but I drank it anyway, as the pain was terrible, and I needed relief. After a few days, they figured out I preferred fruit and only gave me that. The drugs stopped after five days. He kept the cage door open and let me leave it once the drugs wore off.

"He stayed nearby and would use the food to get me to go closer to him until he was hand-feeding me. It was a typical training technique used on animals to train them to obey their masters. Since I could not share our secrets, I allowed it so they would continue to think I was an animal and talk freely in front of me. The cage was removed a few days later, and a heat lamp with sand was placed in its spot. I never saw the cage again. The window shade stayed down, and after a week, I became lethargic and depressed without the Morning Song.

"Finally, one morning, he had it open, and I could feel the pull and rushed to it. I couldn't fly, but I could sing. After the song, I felt renewed, and they noticed the difference and allowed the window shade to stay open permanently.

"While my handler did treat me like an animal, he also took excellent care of me. I had tons of food, sunburst berries, and this fruit called Shia, which is even better than the berries. He scrubbed and oiled my scales daily, so I was never itchy. He never lost patience with me and was never mean to me. My biggest issue was the hand-feeding. But since I could not communicate that I was trapped in this body, I couldn't blame him for that treatment.

"This continued until the bones healed and the cast came off. I was again drugged for several days while he stretched my wing and got the muscles to work again. After the drugs stopped, but before I could fly well, a crawler (Sicora baby) and Sicora got loose in the air vents of his building and came into where we were. Once the smell hit me, I immediately attacked. This woke the handler, and he killed the crawler while the Sicora got away. He called for others, and they cleared the building and killed the monsters.

"It seems that a Sicora bite would kill a Kymari and a crawler bite would put them in the hospital, so they believed I saved many lives that night. They decided I was too valuable to release after that.

"Dragonets were declared endangered and protected. The man taking care of me was promoted to 'handler for a bonded animal.' A harness/leash was put on me, and I was taken to different places and ships to ensure there were no monsters on board. He took me to a small park to let me roam and noted any plant I touched. My handler bought a house with a big yard with a fence around it with netting overtop so I could not fly away but could spend time outside. He put any plant I had interacted with inside the yard as they believed there was a plant in the park that we needed to survive. Someone broke the back gate and left it open. That is how I escaped."

I listened to Tasha with my whole being as I wanted the truth, and she gave it. The questions she got came one after another, and she answered them all. While the drugging and cage scared me, the food and care she received sounded terrific. I remembered the intense anger and fear I felt when the Sicora was in the park and she got hurt. She got to hunt these things and make them dead!

My parents would ground me for life, but I would love to trade places with her. Maybe I should sneak out tomorrow and see if I can find her handler.

Perhaps I can take her place.