What can you say about Iowa? It is probably one of the safest states you can ever visit, people here don’t even seem to lock their doors, and even the worst areas just have seven rapes a year. But still even the best places have accidents, right?
I grew up in Davenport, Iowa which is not a very good city compared to other cities in Iowa, but still has at least three homicides a year. I go to a school called Douglas High. Kids are friendly, teachers are helpful, and it’s an overall great school.
Anyways, my birthday came up, I turned sixteen, and one thing I wanted the most on my list was a puppy. I love dogs, they’re adorable, sweet, and cute. But the thing is I already have three cats, so of course my mother said, “We have enough animals.”
I was pretty upset about that, but like other kids, I just had to take it. So I did still get a lot of cool gifts, and it was still a pretty good birthday, my favorite gift was a pocket knife, but still, no puppy. Then a week after my birthday, I was walking home from school.
And there was a woman in a yellow van following me, she was old and had glasses on, her hair was gray with curls in them, and although I was in a safe state and she looked nice, it’s still Davenport, so I just walked away.
She then asked, “Would you like to play with my dog?” I stopped in my tracks, stood there for a second, and then answered, “Sure,” so I hopped in the car. That was the worst mistake I ever made in my entire life.
I asked where we were going. No answer. I was scared, and I knew I just came across a belfry old woman. She drove up to an old worn out house, she opened the door, grabbed me, and put her hands around my neck.
I thought she was trying to kill me, so I kicked and screamed as much as I could, as it being hard for me to do anything, being choked. Then everything went black, and I woke up in a dark room. It was the basement.
I didn’t seem to be tied up or anything so I was kind of confused, but no time to think. I tried to run towards the door, but it was dark, so I just kept running into walls, I kept on walking into them and at one point there was a flash.
The lights turned on, and it didn’t really seem to look like a scary room, really just a basement. A normal, average basement. I did notice a shotgun on the wall first, but the other thing I saw was a giant incinerator, I thought for sure her plan was to kill me with the machine.
I saw the door up the steps and tried running to it, she then quickly answered, “There’s no escape; the door’s locked.” She then immediately started walking up the stairs with her hand reached out, I kicked it, and screamed and cried but it wasn’t long until she knocked me out.
I woke up chained up this time to a chair, she was sitting in a chair right next to me this time, with the dog she had in her car earlier, she began to tell a story: “My former husband and I hated each other, we would get into fights a lot.
“I made him so mad sometimes to the point that he would hit me. This dog on the other hand, I loved him, and he loved me, so I decided to make him a special treat, I bought this incinerator you see here, and shot my husband.
“I then put him in the machine, and fed the remains to my dog. He loved it more than any other treat I ever gave him, so I promised him more.
“That’s where you come in,” she untied me and grabbed me, she was very strong for an old woman, so I couldn’t get out of her grip, I kicked and kicked, and screamed and shouted, until she walked up the steps of the incinerator, my heart stopped.
But I realized something, my pocket knife, of course! I tried my best to reach into my pocket. I kept on digging until finally I found it. I stabbed her in the back, and she screamed.
The dog got up and growled showing very sharp bloody teeth.
She fell into the machine, and I jumped off and pulled the lever. Blood and guts sprayed everywhere, coating the walls, then I saw the dog, I love dogs, I could never hurt a dog, but it looked angry in a way that it wanted to kill me.
I wiped a couple tears from my eyes and knew what had to be done, I ran towards the shotgun on the wall, and the dog charged, I did get a hold of the shotgun, It was still far away, but heading at a very fast speed.
I closed my eyes, aimed, and fired. The dog exploded, making a bigger mess then the incinerator did. I was covered in blood, but I knew I couldn’t go back looking like this, so I cleaned myself off, cleaned the room, and rushed home.
Of course my mom was worried and was very happy to see I was alive. I was happy to see her too. I then told her one thing that I thought I would never say in a million years after we hugged. “Mom, I don’t want a dog.”