I was walking down the street of a residential section of Houston, Texas, thinking about how I might like to live in Houston. The tranquil, verdant area appealed to me and seemed preferable to Dallas. Strolling along, I noticed that unlike Dallas, many cats seemed to be on the street. I recalled having heard about a building which had been recently torn down in Houston. It had contained around 1,300 cats and all had to be killed. Yet in general cats were left to roam at will in the city, whereas in Dallas the streets were devoid of cats. I had a vague memory of
my mother feeding stray cats which would come to her home and I thought she would appreciate the cats being allowed to live freely there.Continuing on, I came to a more run-down area where instead of cats, many dogs were in the various yards. Most dogs, however, weren't free, but chained. It seemed cruel to see so many dogs with chains around their necks. In one yard was a man with four or five chained dogs. That seemed to me to be particularly cruel. But all the dogs in the various yards seemed well-fed and content with their fate. I wondered -- if they were given the choice of dying or remaining in captivity -- which they would choose. It seemed obvious they would remain captive.
Finally, as I looked around and realized I was headed into a dead end, I noticed a car in front of me with three scruffy-looking men in it. Seeing them scrutinize me, I immediately realized they were thinking of robbing me. I turned around and headed back the way from which I had come. I saw some people up ahead in a yard, but they were far away. I said to myself "fucking shit" and pulled my billfold from my pocket. I thought I might at least be able to pull some of the money out and stick it in my shirt pocket before they grabbed me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see one of them getting out of the car, and I knew I was going to have a problem.
Copyright 2001 by luciddreamer2k@gmail.com
