[ CW ] Start writing a story with these words : `` At first it was shocking , but then it became normal . ''

At first it was shocking, 
 
 But then it became normal, 
 
 How she tells me I'm good, and that I belong; 
 
 How she rubs my back and the space below my neck. 
 
 I try not to cower or growl when she holds out a treat. 
 
 I snatch it carefully from her hand, then swallow quick. 
 
 I can feel my tail wagging, imploring me to trust her. 
 
 Trust it this time. It is not like before. 
 
 She is wonderful. The way she smells of lavender and watermelon. 
 
 She says I'm good. I try to believe her. 
 
 * 
 
 The small ones want to play with me. They have balls and sticks. 
 
 They have bones that taste like fresh meat and open meadows and purpose. 
 
 Their tiny hands and high voices mean they need someone to guard them. 
 
 I want to guard them, but when they touch me or call me from behind, 
 
 When I ca n't see them coming, I ca n't be certain it is them 
 
 And not the ones from before. The ones I could n't make happy, 
 
 Who I could not even protect myself from, 
 
 Who said I was bad. 
 
 When the small ones come from behind, I bark at them, 
 
 Showing my teeth. They run from me and hide. 
 
 I hate myself. They tell me I'm good, but before I was bad. 
 
 I do not know which it is. 
 
 * 
 
 When the night comes, and the small ones go to sleep, she sits with me. 
 
 She tells me there was someone who used to say she was bad too, 
 
 And how he hurt her the way the ones from before hurt me. 
 
 She says the scariest part was n't when he would hit her, 
 
 But how she sometimes believed she deserved to live that way. 
 
 She tells me that neither of us deserved to live that way 
 
 And that she is proud of me for enduring. 
 
 She cries sometimes and I lick her neck and her face, 
 
 Then rest my chin on her lap until she falls asleep. 
 
 For her I will try to be good. 
 
 /r/opinionsaboutnothing
