Rebecca Cooper

Serial Killer or Savior?

I watched him throw our puppies at the walls when they urinated inside the house because he never allowed them to go outside. He put them in a closet or the bathroom and would never let them come out. I was so young, I really don't know if he even fed them. I assume he did though because the bathroom was always covered in dog feces and urine. I remember one of our puppy's heads getting stuck in a hole in the closet and he left him like that for days. It could've been weeks, I really don't know. I remember our dogs had puppies. They were so small. I remember looking outside and seeing them in a crate outside the door while it was pouring down rain. The crate had holes in it, but the puppies were so small they were fighting to not drown, I imagine for all night long. I remember another one of our dogs getting put on a chain in the back yard. When we would go out to play, he would get so excited to see us, but he was so wrapped up around the tree that he couldn't even move. I couldn't tell you if that dog ever got fed either. We had all those dogs and puppies at one time. I remember waking up one morning and not seeing any of them. I asked where they were and he said someone stole them all. I imagine he killed them. As you can imagine, his house was disgusting. There were mice everywhere as well. He also tortured them. I remember seeing a mouse on a sticky trap for so long. It was alive and slowly deteriorated. I was so sad. He walked by it everyday to just watch it die. I remember him throwing a mouse in the sink full of water and just watched it fight for its life until it lost its battle. People wonder why I can't kill a fly. I let bees land on me. I save the wasps flying up near the ceilings at work so that no one will kill him. We have a mouse getting into the bread at work, but my boss knows he can't put out traps without me having a melt down. I let the spiders in the corners of my house live their life. I save the kittens I find and bring them home. I found what I thought was an injured owl in the middle of the road and almost put him in my car until thankfully he started to fly away. People think I am crazy, I am sure, but I am trying to make up for all of the bad he did when I felt so helpless I couldn't save them. He hurt so many animals in the first 14 years of my life. No telling how many he tortured before I was born. I guess I should be thankful that I didn't become a serial killer or something. It could've easily went that way, but instead I gained empathy. So much empathy sometimes it hurts. But I think that might just be my super power.