Part 1
I feel a sudden heavy weight that presses down upon my chest and a wet tongue swipe across the side of my cheek. Cracking open one eye, I squint against the sun and see a red and white, think-furred blob in front of my eyes. Another swipe of the tongue, but this time, it hits me straight in the eye. “Aven!” I shout at my Akita inu, scrambling away, “Ew, so gross, you know that?” Aven just stares at me with a happy smile. Pink tongue out, curled tail wagging. Even though my father specifically stated that “the dog” was not to be in my room (and especially not on my bed), I can’t help but to brush my fingers through her fur and give her chin a nice scratch.
Suddenly, I hear the sound of someone walking up the steps. “Aven! Get off the bed before my dad sees!” My heart is racing as I push at her large body, urging her to get up and off. “Asher, get up. We have a meeting with Mr. Alcamine today.” I hear my dad’s voice through the door. “Yes father.” I answer, ever obedient. That’s when Aven barks. My heart stops. I hear silence on the other side of my door. “Asher, open the door. Now.” My father’s voice suddenly becomes so cold. I shove all of my headsets and microphones under my bed in a hurry and rush to the door. My father’s sharp featured face glares back at me. “The dog, is not to be in your room. Understand? If you can’t control that animal, I will have it permanently exterminated.” “Yes sir. I understand Father. I’ll take care of Aven. I promise.” My hands are still shaking for a long time after my father leaves. I shoo Aven out of my room and close the door, letting my forehead rest against the cool surface.
I wouldn’t say my life is bad. I was born into a rich family, so I basically got anything that I wanted when I was growing up. I got Aven from my grandfather on my fifth birthday. As the only child and son of this family, I was expected to take over the business once I grew up. So, my whole life, I was trained to deal with business matters. But I could never let them know that I didn’t want to do “business”. I wanted to compose music. To perform. I work on my songs late at night, which is the only time where I am free of the prying eyes of maids and family. Music is the thing that brings me the most joy in life. But I’m afraid that I’m never going to be able to follow my dream. That I will be forced to take over the business. That I will live my life in misery and dreams that float forever further away.
Lost in thought, I jump when I hear my father call my name again. I suddenly remembered that I’m supposed to be meeting an important business partner today. I hurry to get dressed, to make myself presentable. Then I rush to my laptop and pull a flash drive out of a desk drawer. Saving the progress of my newest song on the flash drive, I delete the evidence from my laptop, and stick the flash drive back into my desk. Whipping open my bedroom door, I rush down the spiral staircase of my house, or should I say estate, and meet the disgruntled stare of my stylist. “What are we going to do with you Asher? You’re supposed to be meeting one of the most IMPORTANT business partners for RYTE Corp., and you only give me ten minutes to get you ready. TEN MINUTES? I swear you are giving me new grey hairs everyday child. I seriously need a pay raise. Ugh.” I fight
to keep the grin off of my face. Oliver Abbot, my stylist, was one of the few people I liked in this household. “Gosh Oliver, I’m sorry okay? I was a little busy this morning.” Oliver’s eyes soften a little. “I heard you and your dog got in trouble again this morning. I really hope you can keep her Asher. She’s a real gem, fiercely loyal too!” I look away and mumble a reply that resembles a, “Yeah me too.” Shuffling into the chair I close my eyes and let Oliver work his magic. My hair is parted and swept off to the sides in golden waves, and the bags under my eyes are hidden with a large amount of concealer. “Asher! You really need to work on sleeping more boy. Those bags seem to get darker and darker everyday!” I don’t respond. “Hey! Don’t ignore me!”
Finally, after I am deemed presentable, I hurry down our driveway and slip into the backseat of the car, anxious about the meeting with Mr. Alcamine. My father is already there, looking sharp as ever.
The meeting goes well, and I finally made it back home. My father looks at me with a proud expression for the first time today. “You did good today son. Lime Corp. will have a new partner and we WILL become the biggest electronics company in the world! With you ready to take on the business, we are basically guaranteed a success! Especially with that big brain of yours right Asher?” I force a weak smile on my face. “Sure dad. Yay us right? You know what? I’m feeling a little tired. I think I’m going to retire for the day.” I say all of this really fast and look at my father for confirmation. A sharp nod dismisses me and I inch my way out of the room. Once out of sight, I bolt towards the gardens where Aven is kept in her kennel during the day. Her tail is wagging a mile a minute as soon as she sees me round the corner. I stick my hand through the bars of her kennel and rub her ears. Panting she licks my wrist and leans her head further into my touch. I feel a rush of love for this dog. This loyal, loving, and brave dog. “I’ll keep you safe girl. I promise. I won’t let my father get rid of you. We’re gonna be the best musicians in the world! You and me against the world Aven. Always.” I reluctantly slid my hand out from between the bars and head back inside, insides twisting at Aven’s pitiful whimper. But I don't look back, knowing I need to hurry inside before my father finds out I lied about wanting to sleep early.
I scurry up into my room, hoping that no one sees the guilt on my face, or the red dog fur on my pants. Aven sheds like crazy. Especially during the summer. Closing the door quietly, I sit down at my desk, worn out.
Pulling open the drawer in my desk again, I pluck out the flash drive hidden within. Plugging it into my laptop, and pulling a pair of expensive headphones over my ears, I get back to work. Adding notes, instrumental backgrounds, hooks, and bridges into the track. But something seemed to be missing. This is the longest it’s taken me to create a new track. Frustrated, I slump over and rest my forehead against the smooth surface of the desk. “What’s missing?” I mumble out loud. Picking my head back up, I sigh and continue to work.
Hours have passed since I started working on this song again. No matter what I do, no matter how many different instruments are used, no matter how many hooks or bridges are added and changed, it still doesn’t sound right. Deciding to wrap it up for the night, I go through the meticulous process of deleting all of the evidence of my work, saving it to my precious flash drive. Hiding the flash drive away again, I climb into bed and pull the covers to my chin. Closing my eyes my thoughts drift to dreams of a different life. One where I can live my own life, full of happiness and music. Free of the oppression of disapproving fathers.
I wake up in the morning to the insistent beep of my alarm clock. Thankfully, Aven isn’t in my face, though I would be lying if I said that her smiling eyes don’t make my world a little less dark. Rolling onto my side, I suddenly go from fatigue floppy to wide awake. My drawers are open, papers littered all over the floor. My laptop is on, and worst of all, the flash drive is gone. Gone. My entire life’s work just disappeared. Poof. I’ve never been so afraid in my life. Cold sweat runs down my back, and I jump out of bed. Pulling on a jacket, I rush down the hallway. How did father find out? How could I have not heard someone come into my room last night? I must have been so exhausted. I brush the tears that are welling up in my eyes away with the heels of my hands. Running as fast as I can towards the gardens, my fear for Aven slowly choking me, squeezing like a python.
Aven is gone. Her kennel empty, the door creaking gently in the breeze. Mocking me. I collapse to my knees and put my face in my hands. That's when I notice how quiet it is. No one is home. Not even the maids. I see a white slip of paper in the corner of my eye, attached to the door of the kennel. Grabbing it in shaking hands, I read the message that was carefully written:
This will be the last time you disobey me, son.
The maids and I will return at 7:00 pm
with the dog. Together, we will terminate
it. Maybe that will finally teach you a lesson.
My sweet, poor Aven, who is going to suffer because of my mistakes. I’m so angry, so sad, so confused. I don’t know what to do. All I can do is wait…
I wake up to a beautiful sunset and the soft grass beneath my arms. For a second, I forget that my life is falling apart, but then I see a car pulling into the driveway. I start to shake all over again.
Father steps out of the car and immediately sees my pathetic self crouching in the grass near Aven’s kennel. Then, Aven gets out. Her ears immediately perk up as she sees me and starts to take off in my direction, but Father shoots out a hand and grabs her collar in a death grip. Aven yelps when the collar chokes her. I shoot to my feet and start to run towards the car. “Don’t hurt her, Father, please! I’ll do anything!” At this point tears are running freely down my face and I’m desperate. Desperate to save my dog. Father turns his disapproving gaze upon me. “Asher, there is no forgiveness for what you have done. You told me you wanted to be the heir to RYKE. Was that all a lie? I don’t appreciate your disrespectful behavior.”
“Butler, grab this dog’s collar, and don’t let it escape.”
Aven is transferred to Butler and my father instead grabs the collar of my shirt. “Son, you're going to stand here, nice and tall, and learn a lesson. You hear me?” I open my mouth to protest, but then close it, deciding against talking back to Father, which may cause Aven’s suffering to be prolonged, to teach me another “lesson”.
My father senses that I have backed down, and nods to Butler. I go to turn my head away, but stop to look at my precious shiba inu one more time. Her red fur, ruffled gently by the breeze, and her smiling mouth. Then I avert my eyes, and I hear the sound of a trigger being pulled, a bang, a single yelp, and then silence. The silence was dreadful. I feel my heart breaking in two and I let the tears flow freely. Be brave Aven, be free. I’ll meet you again one day. It’s you and me against the world, remember? For some reason, I feel no anger. I just feel empty. Like the shell of the person I once was. Carved out like a jack-o-lantern. I don’t bother looking at Father or Butler, and when I go to move, my father’s grip is loose, so I break away and walk. With my hands in my pockets, I turn my eyes towards the already dark sky, littered with thousands of glittering stars. I think I see Aven dancing among them, shining brighter than the rest.
Save Me is a story that I am currently writing. I will update this occasionally.
-Milkeutea <3
