Chynna tried calling for help. No-one came. The house was on farmland, out in the countryside, miles away from the nearest neighbours. Even her mother, in the house with the windows closed, didn’t hear her.

Chynna was ignored all night. She shivered with fear so much her chain rattled. She was terrified, from both what was happening to her, and her mother. She’d never have expected her mother to do anything like this!

She ate and drank a little and, taking advantage of the fact nobody could see her in the dark, she used the earth patch as a toilet, sobbing at how degraded she felt. How was she even supposed to wipe her backside…?

In the end, she just sat on a corner of the lawn and used the damp grass to rub it clean(ish). Crying, still, she crawled back into her kennel and wrapped herself in her blanket…

Next morning, her mother came down with some fresh food. She also brought Dr Crandall to check her over.

Chynna refused to come out of her kennel, swearing profusely.

To her amazement, both her mother and Dr Crandall just left and went back to the house.

She was left there on her own all day. Then, with horror, she heard the last voice she expected to hear…

“Chynna? Chynna. Can you hear me? It’s Alice. Talk to me, please…!”

She’d forgotten her sister was visiting that week. It wasn’t really her fault; what with everything going on…!

“Go away!”, she shouted. She wasn’t going to swear at her sister…

“Chynna, please! I want to talk to you.”

“I don’t care! Go away and leave me alone! My life is over!”

Chynna just stayed in her kennel, curled up in her blanket. Alice just sat down on the wet grass outside it…

Later, Chynna poked her head out of the kennel to get some food and drink. To her shock, she found her sister still there, sleeping sitting up. She quietly went to eat some food and have a drink, then tried to pull her head back in without waking her sister.

She failed. Alice opened her eyes, then looked down at Chynna.

“Sis, I’m so sorry! I never knew mum could be like this! You must have done something really terrible to piss her off like this…!”

“How would you know?”, Chynna said, bitterly. “You’re never here!”

Alice flinched.

At the same time, her mother came down from the house.

“Alice, you’re making her break the rules. After all, animals can’t talk. If you don’t leave her alone, I’ll have to fit her with a muzzle…”

“Mum, you can’t! It’s bad enough keeping her in a kennel! Surely what she’s done isn’t that bad…?”

Chynna’s mum just showed Alice a video on her phone. Alice’s eyes went wider and wider…

“Oh my god! I didn’t realise! Of course I’ll stop talking to the little tramp, at once!”

With a sniff, Alice turned her nose up at Chynna, spun on her heel and headed back to the house.

“Alice! Please…!”, Chynna called after her.

“Sounds like you need a muzzle”, said Chynna’s mother. She fished one out of the bag she was holding, having brought it anyway, grabbed the squirming girl and fitted her with it before she could stop her.

“Mmmmmph! Mmmmmgh!”, Chynna wailed.

“You’ve had your food for today, and you can still drink through the hole in the middle”, her mother said. “Behave today, and I might remove it tomorrow…!”

“Mmmmm!”, wailed Chynna.

“Get back in your kennel and rest!”, her mother said. “I don’t want to hear another squeak out of you today!”

Chynna couldn’t believe it. What had she done that was so wrong…?

Sobbing, she crawled back into her kennel, wrapped herself in her blanket and tried to sleep…