Roland’s Gate
A Short Story by Za
Loosely inspired by the song “Sharktopus” by Nuclear Bubble Wrap
"Wun! Wun fastew, weggies!"
Sprinkles skidded around the corner, ducking into the alley with her foals in tow. Roland wasn’t far behind her. The dogs were more ravenous than usual today, practically biting at Roland’s hooves as he barreled past trash cans and under parked cars in a bid to escape. It was clear the dogs weren’t tired… but Roland was. Sprinkles began to slow down, no doubt because she was carrying several foals. The city streets were a bad place to be, full of dogs and cruel humans. Unfortunately, it was also the best place to find food. The foals were starving and Sprinkles needed to make milk desperately.
“Speshuw fwend,” Roland called out, “wun dat way! Dat am whewe da hooman housies am! Wun fastew, fwuffies awmost safe!”
Without hesitation, Sprinkles pulled ahead rapidly. On the horizon was a suburb full of dozens of identical houses. Just what they needed. Roland used his last bit of strength to take the lead. He deftly guided Sprinkles into the first fenced-off yard he could find. The gate was open, and it was just like the fence his owner had a long time ago. Roland screeched to a halt behind the picket fence, waiting for Sprinkles and the foals to make it in safely. The dogs were closing in, barking and snarling like mad. As soon as his family was in, Roland gave a mighty shove and slammed the gate closed. It clicked, indicating that it had locked. The family was safe for now, but how long would the gate hold?
“Quick, speshuw fwend, make tappies on da doow!” Roland told Sprinkles. “Nice mistah hewp fwuffies!”
She nodded and began knocking repeatedly at the house’s back door. The foals were a chirping, confused mess. Roland continued bracing against the gate, resisting every scratch and thud. His face was peppered with foamy slobber through the cracks in the wood between each deafening bark.
Sprinkles knocked for what seemed like forever. Eventually, the human did come to the back door… but he simply shook his head and walked away looking annoyed. That was when the reality of the situation sunk in.
“Speshuw fwend… come hewe.”
Sprinkles sadly trotted over to Roland, doing her best to comfort the foals.
“Wuh fwuffies do nao?” she asked.
That was when Roland started to cry, but he did his best to suck the tears back in. He didn’t want to cry in front of his family, they were scared enough.
“Wook, obah dewe. Dewe am howe in da fencie. Wun away an take babbehs. Wun tiw nu can heaw doggie munstahs nu mowe.”
The hole was in the far corner from the gate, so that was her best chance.
“Otay! Speshuw fwiend suuu smawt!” she sang cheerily. She walked a few steps, then turned to face him. She took a few more steps and stopped completely.
“Huwwy, speshuw fwend!” she told him. Roland shook his head solemnly.
“Nu. If Wowand weave, gate wiww open an da doggie munstahs wiww eat Spwinkwes… an babbehs.”
She threw herself into him, hugging with every ounce of strength she had left.
“Nu! Nuuuuhuhu! Spwinkwes nu weave speshuw fwend!” she sobbed, begging Roland to change his mind.
“Wowand nu can keep da doggie munstahs away fow mowe time! Wun nao!” he shouted, pleading with her as the wood began to splinter slightly.
“Buh… Wowand nu can stay! Hewd miss Wowand! Babbehs miss Wowand!”
Tears stained her fluff as she choked the last part of her sentence out.
“Spwinkwes miss Wowand.”
Roland would miss them too. But above all, he wanted his family to live. There wasn’t any way for them to all survive.
“Speshuw fwend… Wowand nu am goin away fowebah. If speshuw fwend hab biggest heawt happies, Wowand am dewe to hab happies too. If speshuw fwend hab wowsest saddies, Wowand gib huggies fwom whewe Wowand am. If speshuw fwend am scawedies, Wowand be stwong fow speshuw fwend. Otay?”
She sniffled and nodded, turning to run away as the gate began to buckle. Roland pushed against the dogs with all that he had left. He watched his family squeeze through the hole in the fence, running for their lives.
All Roland could do was wait for the gate to break open.
