The Turning of the Tables
By Jenifer, 14,
The date was Tuesday,
August third, 3076. That was exactly one year, six months, and twenty-six
days since the last time I'd seen Earth. That was how long it had been
since my obduction to the planet of Creptopius.
In alot of ways, I was glad to leave my home planet. Our world was a scary
place. The last of the rainforests had been destroyed, drugs were now
legal, racism was on the rise, and the world was covered in pollution.
That doesn't even mention the fact that almost every species known to
man was extinct. The only creatures left on the planet besides man was
the average pet dog and cat. Not even the annoying insects which sucked
blood, buzzed in people's ears, and nearly drove us insane were in existance.
When I think back in time to all of the history discs, the world never
really was that fair to the animals. Animals were always treated as lower
lifeforms, or of lower intelligence. To many, animals ere just objects;
possessions which could be used and discarded at Man's disposal. For centuries,
animals were forced to be slaves to do work much too hard for man, pure
entertainment against their will, laboratory experiments, and eaten as
food. What did they receive for their back breaking labor? Nothing but
being worked to death, beaten, or starved. Their natural habitats were
taken away to suffice our own needs. And now, finally, on my home planet,
planet Earth, the animal never walks nor swims nor flies about the land
any longer.
But what if there was a place where the tables were to be turned? What
if there was a place where the animals themselves overruled the land and
treated humans the way they had been treated for so long? What if in this
place, if it existed at all, people were enslaved, eaten, or experimented
on at the animals' disposal? The truth is, there is such a place, and
that is where I am, along with zillions of others of my kind.
The bright, neon orange planet, Cretopius, was solely ruled by animals
of every kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, family, and species. They
were the same animals we once had on Earth, only they had human traits.
They could speak any language, from English to Japanese, and wore clothes
just as the humans on Earth did.
Cretopius was a utopia for the animals that lived on it, but a nightmare
for Mankind. On this planet, humans were treated just as the animals were
several years ago when they existed on Earth. Humans were eaten for food,
treated as livestock, experimented on, and forced to perform in circuses
and zoos. If they failed to perform a task correctly, they were beaten
or starved.
I remember when I was first obducted. I was beamed up into a gigantic
steel, carrot-shaped star ship with an unspeakable amount of others. I
remember first being thrown into what looked like an assembly line. In
the front of the line, there was a brillant orange, black striped tiger
wearing a tight, blue rubber suit, which covered his body from the neck
down. As the line moved up, the tiger tapped each person on the shoulder,
pointing to where he wanted them to go, either the left or the right.
After about four hours in line, the tiger finally got to me. I had to
go to the right.
On the right side of the room, I saw a little girl with auburn pigtails
dangling on either side of her tiny head, sky blue eyes, and a terrified
look on her face. Tears were dripping down her cheek, tears of fear and
terror. "Hello," I said, trying to comfort the frightened child, "My name
is Tabitha. What's your name?"
The child started to sniffle a little bit. "My name is Reenie and I'm
eight years old. I'm scared. What is that orange fuzzy thing in the blue
suit? He looks mean and scary."
I smiled. "It's okay," I said, though I had no idea if either one of us
would actually be okay in the end. "Don't be scared. That thing is called
a tiger. He won't hurt you. Tiger's are related to house cats." This reassurance
didn't help the little girl much, but atleast she stopped crying.
The ship stopped. "Get out." shouted the tiger. All the people were escorted
out of the ship and onto strange, gold/orange soil which smelled like
gun powder. "Get in line." the tiger barked.
Everyone got in line, much like the one we were in when we were on the
ship. The tiger was at the head of the line again, telling people where
they needed to be. Only this time, the people didn't go to one or two
sides, but several different sides. I didn't know what was happening,
until he came to me. He was deciding at random, who would be livestock,
who would be a circus performer, who would be the "lab rats", and who
would be a zoo animal. Fortunately, I wasn't on the menu. I was placed
as a zoo attratction.
The tiger loaded all of the people on several big trains. I figured some
were going to the zoo, some to the farms, some to the slaughter house,
some to the circus, and some to the laboratory. Reenie was picked to be
a zoo attraction as well. We sat together.
"Where are we going?" asked Reenie, in a scared yet curious voice.
"Oh, I think we're going to the zoo." I answered back.
"What's the zoo?" Reenie asked. I had forgotten. There was no such thing
as a zoo in this day and age because there was no animals. The only reason
I knew what a zoo was was because I had learned about it in school.
"The zoo is a wonderful place." I said,"There's no need to worry."
I looked out of the windows. Animals were everywhere. All kinds of animals,
from aardvarks dressed in brown leater suits to zebras dressed in rubber
suits. I was almost afraid to imagine what the leather suits were made
from, though I had an idea.
The train stopped at a humongous, fenced in area with a big sign which
read, "ZOO". A hippopotamus dressed in a beautiful blue uniform jumped
off. "Get out, humans." he bellowed.
One by one, each person hopped off the train, dazed at what was happening.
A small, white rabbit in a baseball cap and blue shirt was standing at
the gate. He escorted the people to their exhibits.
I was placed in a large, square cage. I thought I was all alone, until
I had noticed a small, wrinkley old man with a big white beard sitting
in the corner. "Girl," he whispered,"who are you?"
"I'm Tabitha and I'm fourteen years old."
The old man stroked his beard. "Ah, fourteen. Such a wonderful age. A
wonderful age in deed. And Tabitha. What a wonderful name. A very wonderful
name indeed. Tell me, Tabitha, do you know where you are?"
"Of course I do," I barked back,"I'm in a people zoo."
"Yes, I know, dear, but do you know what they do here?"
I was puzzled. "No," I said.
"Nasty things, my child. Nasty things which are unthinkable to Mankind.
If you don't perform at exatly when they want you to, you don't eat for
a week. But with what they serve you here, you probably wouldn't eat anyway."
"What do you eat here?" I asked in bewilderment.
"Don't know," answered the man, "but you can bet your five dollars it
contains the meat from a human."
I nearly threw up. I couldn't live in a place where my own species was
on the menu. I had to get out. I just had to escape.
Just then, a young panda came up to my exhibit. In human years, she would
have had to have been around four years in age. "Look at those stupid
humans, Mommy," she giggled. "Aren't they ugly?"
That made me angry. She had no reason to call me stupid or ugly. Who cared
if animals were considered lower lifeforms on Earth. If this was how animals
used to be, I'm glad they were extinct. I just sat there and did nothing.
I was going to escape. I had to escape.
It was midnight, I think. All of the doors and windows of the zoo were
locked. The zoo was closed. There appeared to be no way out, but I was
determined. I noticed then something wonderful! The door of my exhibit
was unlocked. Look whose stupid now, I thought as I peeled back the steel
barred door.
Quickly, I raced down the towards the exit of the zoo. Then, I realized
something. Reenie. I had to rescue her, too. But where was she? I scurried
about the zoo, searching for the little girl. I finally found her sleeping
on the cold, hard floor of the exhibit. "Reenie," I whispered, "Wake up."
Reenie yawned. "Where are we going?"
"We're going back to Earth." I answered.
Reenie's door was unlocked like mine. I opened the door and she jumped
out. Together, we jumped over the zoo's fence and out into the open. The
zoo's siren shrieked louder and louder. My heart pounded like a snare
drum. I saw a small spacecraft on the lawn of the zoo. Reenie and I hopped
in.
"How do you control this thing," asked Reenie.
"I don't know, but I better learn quick," I cried.
The sirens screamed even louder. Police ships started to surround the
area. I noticed a big, shiny red button on the control pannel. I pushed
it. All of the sudden, we were taking off. I had no idea how to fly this
thing, but I needed to know soon. I saw planet Earth just ahead. Behind
us was ten police starships filled with angry police animals. I noticed
what appeared to be a steering wheel. I grabbed on to it and started controlling
the out of control ship. Earth was only about a thousand miles away from
us now. Soon, the police ships ran out of energy and had to turn back
for more fuel. We finally landed on Earth with a big crash. Fortunately,
neither of us were injured.
I didn't know which continent, country, or city we were on. I didn't care.
I headed straight for a nearby gas station with Reenie by my side. I found
out that we were in Tokyo, Japan. I told an English speaker what had happened.
He laughed and thought I was crazy.
Ever since this experience, I have told people what has happened. I'm
now twenty three years old. I'm studying to be the first zoologist in
over a thousand years. I always stress to people,"Be careful how you treat
others and the world. The tables could turn."
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