I sit shivering in my cold, hard cell. I am so sad, scared and lonely. WHY am I in here? WHAT did I do? People walk by and I can hear laughter in their voices. Until they get to me and then the laughter turns to fearful whispers. I hear words like deadly, dangerous, and unpredictable. I don’t know what the words mean but somehow they hurt. I whimper, my soul aches, is there no hope for me? I am not bad. I would never hurt anyone. I only know that I want to give and receive unconditional love. Minutes turn to hours and hours turn to days. And still not one friendly voice have I heard. I see my other cells mates being freed; they get to go to homes to be loved. And then there are the others, the ones that the scary man who cares of us all, takes down the hallway. The hallway where all I can smell is death. As time passes, I fear I will never be free. I fear my fate will be that final walk down the hallway. All I want is out of here. It must be something I am doing wrong? I hear more people coming, and then, a soft, gentle voice says, “He looks so sad but so sweet.†Closer they come to my cell, I sit my ears perked, I smile and try to relax, but my body wiggles with excitement. I have watched the others who leave and this is how they behave before they get to go free. Closer still they come, a man and a woman with the scary man. "Please, please." I beg silently. They come to right up to my cell. I do not sense any fear. I sense kindness and I sense LOVE and I feel sadness. The woman turns to the scary man and with tears in her voice she looks down at me, crooning not words but sounds that make me strain against the bars. “Please let me out.†I beg with my eyes. “I will be good; I will do whatever you want.†It seems as if the kind woman stands there for hours looking down at me tears still coursing down her face. She turns to the kind man with her and softly says. “This is the one.†He nods to the scary man. The scary man his voice gruff says. “Are you sure? His kind has been known to maim, to kill. We have safer ones, ones who might be better.†With her voice firm she looks at the scary man. “Yes, I am sure. How could you look at into those eyes and that gentle soul and see a killer? Yes, he is the one I want.†Gruffly he nods his head, and leads them away. Fear comes rushing back, but the kind woman walks back to me. “It’s ok baby, I am not leaving you here. Soon you will be going home.†I am confused but her voice is so calming, I lie down on the cold floor and wait. I sense something is happening. A few moments pass, and the kind man and woman return. Papers in hand, I have seen those papers before. Could it be? The scary man walks to my cell, and opens the door. I smile my biggest smile. My body trembles with joy. Some type of looped rope is gently put around my neck. The kind man, hand in hand with the kind woman, lead me down the hall. Soon we are outside; it seems so long since I have seen outside. I smell the air. It is crisp and cold and the ground is covered with white, cold, cold white. The kind lady laughs and tells me it is snow. I have never seen snow. I am led to what she says is a car. I sit in the back, looking out the window as so many things pass me by that I cannot comprehend them all. Soon, we stop and she tells me, “This is your new home.†I am led up to the house and inside. I am unsure of how to act. I have never been inside a house, before my home was the streets. The kind lady looks at me with love shining in her eyes, and kneels down to me. She tells me, “Your new name is Chance, and I am Gayle,†and with her arms around the kind man she continues, “This is Thomas. We are your new family and now you have a furever home. We saw you online and knew that you were the one who would make our family complete.†The rope is taken off my neck now, and she shows me what she tells me is my new collar. Cautiously I sniff at it and smells like leather. She walks to a corner by the couch and calls my new name. Timidly I go to her. She tells me. “This is your new bed.†She says showing me a soft plush pillow, “And these are your toys and a bone to chew on. Tomorrow morning is Christmas and we have so many surprises for you.†I do not know what Christmas means, but I know what love feels like, and to me to have a home and food in my belly, my own bed and my own toys is more than I ever could imagine. I fall asleep with a sigh, warm and content for the first time in my life with one last thought. “Christmas must mean magic.†I was inspired by the plight of so many pit-bulls and other dogs considered “dangerous breeds†in shelters, that people look at and don’t give them their second chance. And that I believe every creature should have their own warm loving “furever†home. WORD COUNT is 931