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But it all came back to me when a familiar figure came into view. It was Vena.

“Awake, little buddy?” she said. “Good. I’m sorry for locking you up in there, but it’s for your own safety. You’ve got plenty of food and water so don’t be afraid to eat your fill, though I can understand that you won’t want to eat right now.”

She took her phone out of her pocket and placed it to her ear.

“Odelia? Vena. You’ll be happy to know that Max is awake. Yeah, the operation went just fine. He’s three teeth poorer but will be without pain from now on. I also have the results from his blood test here—at least the preliminary ones.” She checked a piece of paper, then said, “Everything looks fine. Nothing that jumps out at me.” She moved into the next room, still talking to Odelia, and I was gratified to know that I hadn’t been donated to the pound. I ran my tongue along my teeth. Everything was pretty smooth down there—much smoother than it used to be—and the knowledgethat I was minus three teeth didn’t bother me in the slightest. I still had plenty of teeth left.

What did bother me was the cage, though. I don’t like cages, and being cooped up in one wasn’t a lot of fun. I glanced out through the bars, and thought it looked just like a prison. So I heaved a deep sigh, and placed my head on my paws, and decided to take a nap. I was feeling very weak, and before long I was sound asleep again, dreamingof Odelia’s couch, and my favorite scratching post, and of course my buddies back home.

I don’t know what woke me. It may have been a sound, or it may have been movement. I opened my eyes and discovered that all was dark around me. Night must have fallen, or else Vena had decided to turn off the light.

“Psst,” suddenly a voice sounded nearby. I focused on the source of the sound, and saw that a small rodent was hissing at me.

“Psst! Buddy!” it was saying.

“Oh, hey there, rat,” I said.

The rodent drew itself up to its full height, which wasn’t much. “I’ll have you know I’m not a rat, buster,” said the rodent, sounding a little peeved.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “So you’re a mouse, then?” A giant mouse, though.

“I’m a gerbil!” said the gerbil.

Great. I’d just insulted a gerbil. At least it was locked up in its cage same as I was.

“What are you in here for, buddy?” asked the gerbil.

“They pulled three of his teeth,” said a voice next to me. I glanced over, and saw that in the next cage a small dog sat. “Sorry,” it said. “I couldn’t help overhearing Vena as she was chatting away with your human over the phone.”

“No, that’s fine,” I assured the dog, which looked like a Pekinese.

“I’m having my gall bladder removed,” said the gerbil, swelling out its chest as if actually proud of the fact.

“Tough,” said the Pekinese.

“So what areyou in here for?” I asked politely. Even under duress, never forget your manners, my mother always told me.

“Worms,” said the Pekinese softly.

“I’m sorry?” I said. “Did you say worms?”

“Uh-huh. Worms.” Unlike the gerbil he didn’t look particularly proud of his affliction.

“Deworming,” said the gerbil knowingly. “Trust me, I know all about it. Once they pulled a worm out of my butt the size of an elephant.”

Both the Pekinese and I stared at the gerbil.“The size of an elephant?” I asked.

“A small elephant,” the gerbil clarified. “But still an elephant. What a sense of relief, huh, buddy? Huh?”

“I wouldn’t know,” said the Pekinese. “So far I haven’t experienced relief.”

“Oh, you will. Trust me. You’ll feel light as a feather. In fact I wish Vena would pull another one from my butt. There’s something addictive about a good deworming. But I digress. So your teeth, huh? That must have hurt.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said, yawning. “So far so good, I’d say.”

“That’s because you’re still doped up on pain meds. Wait till they wear off. Mamma mia! Though you can always ask for more. Just hit Vena up for a fresh dose. Whimper a little and look sad and she’ll fix you right up. I love Vena. Tough but nice, if you know what I mean.”

I clamped my lips shut. I wasn’t going to extoll Vena’s virtues just yet. First she needed to let me go from this prison I was confined in.

“I don’t understand why we have to stay in a cage, though,” said the Pekinese, echoing my thoughts exactly.

“It’s to make sure we don’t get into any trouble,” said the gerbil.

“Yeah,” I said, “last time I was in here I wasn’t in a cage, though.”

“She must have installed a new regime,” said the gerbil. “There must have been a prison break or some kind of revolt or something, and she must have decided to go all maximum-security penitentiary from now on. My name is Harlan, by the way.”

“Max,” I said.

“Minna,” said the Pekinese.

“You know, if it wasn’t for the cage, and the fact that I feel like someone just sat on me and then pulled me limb from limb across a rack, I’d actually be enjoying this little chat we’re having,” said Harlan, gesturing from himself to me and Minna. “Cozy, I mean.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Minna. “And if only my owner would hurry up and pick me up, I’d feel a lot better, too.”