This is a piece I wrote a few years ago for the mechanical hound from Fahrenheit 451. This is the moment before Montag burns Captain Beatty. Enjoy!
Smoke and ash.
My quivering nose raises to the dawn streaked sky.
From the shadows, I watch my keepers.
They stand in front of a charcoal pit, the leader and his underling.
One, a picture of confidence and the other, a mess of fear…
I smell it.
The scent of a chase.
The needle within my mouth pokes out and withdraws.
Excitement.
Sparks of electricity pop and circuit within my internal hard drives.
A burst of flame issues from a machine the quivering man is holding.
Blackness descends.
He turns on the two puppets in front of the rolling metal log, yelling angrily.
The blowing of a single autumn leaf.
And I become the predator once again.
The thrill of the hunt surrounds me.
I can feel the creaks of my metal joints.
I fully focus the weak, fleshy being before me.
So, I leap into action like a coiled spring released from the pressure that holds it.
For the joy of death beckons me.