Free Imagine by Christiane Shoenhair, Liam McEvilly

limp seemingly caused by a painful looking bite to its right flank, but both dogs seem exhausted and are breathing very heavily with the strain that the fight has taken on them.
    I take in my surroundings, the air seems static with the crowd’s excit ement, and it is thick with body odor, humidity and above all, the smell of desperation.
    It all brings a strong feeling of sickness to my stomach. The cruelty in front of me, the men who are enjoying themselves by watching these two beautiful animals fight to the death, cheering their pick on. I love animals, I always wanted a dog of my own and had researched different breeds to try and convince my Mom of the best fit for us. When I look at the two dogs again my heart feels heavy, I just want it all to end; I don’t want either dog hurt anymore.
    I close my eyes and Imagine a much different scene, I picture both dogs curled up asleep together on a rug in front of a warm, roaring fire like two best friends and all of the people here sat around talking calmly. The smell of pine wood burning in the fireplace enters my nostrils as my breathing and heartbeat slow down considerably. I feel better, relieved even.
    I slowly open my eyes, to my utter astonishment my vision seems to have become reality, I gasp in wonder as it takes my breath away. The two dogs are curled up next to each other, the pit bull snoring. Neither of them has a mark on them and they look so peaceful. Like two well looked after pets, best friends.
    The crowd has calmed and there is no more shouting. Most of the crowd looks confused; everyone is looking around and talking to each other trying to figure out what has just happened in the blink of an eye, my eye.
    I don’t think anyone knows that it was me that caused the change in this evening’s entertainment; I definitely want to keep it this way, so I try and act normally. By normally of course I mean the same as everyone around me. So I turn and look for Chelsey, who is just staring at the dogs, with everything that had been happening I had completely forgotten that she was right there beside me. All I can think about now is I have got to get out of here, as fast as humanly possible; this is just all too strange. A million questions run through my head, I need to speak to my Mom.
    But w hy were we invited to witness this in the first place? What do Keagan and Eddie have to do with it all? The biggest question of all though … do they know it was me?
    I turn to grab Chelsey’s hand and start pulling her towards the stairs, but  instead I crash into a figure blocking my path. I glance up and see that once again the figure belongs to Keagan.
    He is standing next to Eddie and another man bl ocking our way, all three look determined. Their arms crossed with such stern looks on their faces. “We are leaving, move” I tell them as I try to shove my way through them to no avail. I’m starting to get angry, angry and scared.
    “I wanna go home! Now! ” Chelsey cries, sensing the trouble that is brewing.
    “I told you that she was one of them ! What happened with the car? It was her …” Eddie says. I presume he is talking to Keagan and the other man, who are on either side of him. The older man looks just like him, he is very well dressed, so I can only presume he is Eddie’s father.
    “You were right son, and this one is special , very special indeed . ” his father replies. Keagan looks at me with a blank indifferent look, it matches the strange mood that he has been in from the very second he opened the door .
    “Keagan what are you doing? I thought you cared about me?” I get no reply just another brooding look. 
    Eddie’s Dad turns to me, the look in his eyes frightens the life out of me. I see hatred and anger in the look that he bestows upon me.
    “Take her to the cell; make sure you keep that friend of hers around too. She’ll be a nice bargaining chip. I want to make sure that the Young Creator plays nice” and with that he just leaves,