Behind The Mask

Chase's Past Part 1

      6 Years Ago

CLANK

A log has been chopped up by a small axe being held by a young German Shepherds mouth who was wearing a dirty and ragged light-blue hoodie. Chase was born in poverty at, Manuel Antonio Costa Rica, where cheap jobs would get paid with little to no money. Chopping up logs and delivering them for fires to keep warm, collecting water from far out rivers and small stuff like that means so much to others living in poverty to which the conditions were terrible. But even something like those that mean so much, gets less pay.

Chase delivered a back load of logs to a man who had little money and told the young Chase that he would pay if he brought logs back home to keep him and his family warm. The man dropped a few pennies onto the little puppy's paw.

"Sorry, but I don't have much right now but we're all in a downturn right now and it's hard." The man explained.

"Thank you." Chase thanked in a soft but grateful tone and walked away. A few pennies was only a dream for him. But that dream was about to go to waste.

Chase then visited another home. In poverty, there are people who try to work hard and make as much as they can, but there are also others who don't try to get by in life the easy way. It was like an...addiction.

Another man was holding a bottle filled less than half-way of vodka while the other hand was collecting ALL of the pennies from Chase.

"Let me guess, is this another errand for your parents again? Aren't you way too young to be working in these types of rough conditions?" The man asked, in a tone in which he didn't care but also a little bit of a sympathetic tone.

"T-They're working. I just want to...to help out." Chase stuttered in between, it was like he was trying to come up with a lie. The man saw right through it, but didn't say anything because he has no involvement with this situation.

Chase grabbed the top bottle with his mouth and walked away. But before he could leave the little 'town', Chase heard the sounds of water rippling, and waters meeting each other in a big splash. Turning his head to the side, Chase liquids of light-blue and white, with a light-blue sky in the background and the sun on top, shining down on the ocean.

Chase gazed at its beauty, a small breeze rushing through Chase's fur, making him feel some sort of rush or excitement.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Chase turned around to see a man with stitched up clothing and short black hair, but he had this cheerful smile on his face. The man walked up and sat beside the young German Shepherd.

"The ocean? Makes you wonder what's out there, right?" The man asked, wondering what the puppy was thinking about but got no response.

"Anyways, look over there." The man pointed and Chase followed the man's finger to some sort of stand filled with ragged up toys and playful masks.

"Wanna buy one? I'll give you a good deal on it." The man said with a light smile. Chase studied the stand, there was a bunch of beaten up toys, ragged dolls and other stuff like masks or broken paintings.

But there was one thing that caught Chase's eye.

Hanging off was a white, large rounded, circular mask with black ribbon ties, it's like something that could cover up a whole face. But the thing that intrigued Chase the most was what was on the mask...nothing, but a smile. Black eyes and a black line formed the shape of a smile.

The man followed Chase's eyes and landed on the mask.

"Oh, you like that mask, huh? Again, I can give you a good deal on it." The man offered, and then noticed the bottle besides Chase.

"Huh, are you running an errand?" The man pointed out and Chase shifted his sight from the mask to the bottle and then back up to the man.

"Wow, your parents really raised a good dog." But the man was met with no response, which left him a little but fazed.

"You know, it's pretty hot out here. Don't you think it's a bit much to wear a hoodie like that out in the hot summers? It'll only make you more uncomfortable and make you feel worse." The man mentioned. Chase looked down on his stitched up and dirtied hoodie back to the man. Once again, greeted by silence which fazed the man a little bit more.

"Uh, so...do you want it?" The man politely asked, referring to the mask.

"S-Sorry...but I don't have any money. My parents will get angry If I'm late, I've gotta go now. I'm sorry." Chase softly said and picked up the bottle and quickly ran off, leaving the man with a surprised look on his face.

"What a strange dog." The man said to himself and then heard footsteps beside him, and was met by another random person.

"I assume that this is your first time around these poverty areas?" It was a woman that was asking, making the man nod his head 'yes'.

"That pup lives with his parents, who are intoxicated. From what I heard, his parents have been sent to prison a lot of times due to breaking laws and hurting others, to which I wouldn't be surprised if it was true. I've also heard that he wears that hoodie because his parents beat him so hard that it leaves physical scars on his body. I don't get why he works hard until he's drenched in sweat for them. I mean, his parents always spend the money on booze or other things to get addicted to. What a poor pup." The Woman explained.

Both people were met by silence.

"If that's the case, then why stick around here? Why not just run away?" The man asked, making the woman scoff.

"And where would a pup, that young, run away to? The world is a bigger and scarier place. He's kind of like...oh, a pet fish." The woman said, making the man that talked to Chase, confused. Seeing the expression on his face, the woman decided to explain it.

"If the fish gets out of its tank, it'll die. In the end, he has no choice. He can only live his life in a tank and if he escapes to the outside world, he won't last a day." The woman explained and the man stood silent.

"A pup with no choice, huh?" The man repeated.

Can't escape out of his tank.