No one, Nowhere

I spent the day in a cage. Captain seemed to differ in opinion, calling it a punishment zone, but it had bars and a lock at the gate. When he asked what I was thinking, I just stared at the brown straps of his sandals and shrugged. I don’t know what happened. I guess it started two nights ago. I was sitting behind the cafeteria with Xeno. He had saved a piece of bread the kitchen staff had made that morning. It was so sweet, melting on the tongue. I smeared butter and blackberry jelly on the top and savored the riches. He brought the subject of how stupid the boys’ macho behavior was. All I did was agree with him. I mentioned how they thought they were the best soldiers ever and how I could beat them all. He said I was just like them. Me! Just like them? I told him no way. We argued, then he grabbed the bread and ground it into the dirt. The jelly muddied, oozing all over the ground, so I called him a son of Cerberus and shoved him into the mess.

The next day I fell on the obstacle courses’ wall. I’d climbed it countless times, but this time my foot slipped, slamming my shoulder against the wood. I lost my grip, skid down the face, and landed on my back, the ground shoving all air out of my chest. The boys laughed and snickered at me for the rest of the day. I just wanted to escape for only a few minutes. But I just kept walking. Helios traveled close to the horizon when the trees parted. There, in front of me stood the ocean. The white capped waves crashed onto rock and sand, misting the air. The water stretched into the horizon, like it never ended. I wanted to jump in, to swim as far as I could.

Instead, I transformed. I let the sand brush in-between my nails, caressing the pads of my paws. I let the breeze brush over the sea, caressing my muzzle as it traveled inland. I sat, watching Helios set the ocean surface on fire in its descent, listening to the birds soaring above me. It was like another world. I closed my eyes and no longer felt Atlantis. I no longer felt a curse, whether that be some part of me, whose actions I pay for every day. I felt detached from the world. I felt alive.

I swear I would have returned. Really, I would have. I didn’t have the chance to leave. Apparently they have a guard who patrols the coastline. He strapped a rope around my neck. I can still feel the twine digging into my neck, pulling my hair, as he dragged me into the wagon. I returned to the camp in a wagon, just the way I had entered. But, for a brief moment, I was no one nowhere. The cage is worth remembering that feeling.