The Purple House

Definitions (Abbreviated from Collins English Dictionary.)

Police State: state or country in which a repressive government maintains control through the police.

Freedom: personal liberty; the quality of the will of the individual; being unrestrained.

Liberal: advocating individual freedom; tolerant of other people.

Purple: colours with a hue lying between red and blue; full of imagery.

Police Dog: a dog trained to help the police.

There`s an enormous fence on one side of me; I can`t see the top. The Man`s boots are on the other; it`s always the same.

The trucks are in rows. They are just a short run away, facing the fence.  We are between them and the fence. It`s always the same.

Nobody can come over the fence. No one can come to us from the trucks; there`s a line, they must not cross it.  We can go to the trucks.  These are the rules. They never change.

I stop, chase, sit, stay. I do as I am told, no matter what.  I get fed twice a day. I sleep in the warm and dry. If I do good I get rewarded. If I do wrong I am punished.

The trucks come and go together.  There are either trucks or no trucks. There`s always people with the trucks. They gather in groups, talking. They are always like that.

A person came over the fence. I chased him down. He was bleeding.  The Man put the chains on him and he was taken away.

One came at us from the trucks, he was talking and pointing to the other side of the fence, to the Purple House.  The Man yelled at him and I leapt at him to bring him down.  I was held back by The Man.  He put his hands up and walked backward, back over the line and back to the trucks.

The Man looks at the trucks.  The Men walk amongst them, not with dogs, but The Men just the same.  Only The Men and people with the trucks are allowed to be near the trucks.  These are the rules.

When it is dark, the Purple House comes alive.  There are so many people.  They come and go, and shout and laugh and scream until it gets light.  They wear black and show their arms and legs.  Those with the trucks whistle and women at the Purple House raise an arm to them, with one finger sticking up highest of all.

The Purple House throbs.  It beats like my heart.  The Man taps his leg with his fingers to the same beat as the Purple House.

Sometimes The Men come in cars to the Purple House and it pulses in time with the lights on their cars` roofs. 

People walk past the fence all the time.  They never stop but look at The Man and me, quickly. They never speak.  Cars and trucks pass by.  People carry bags, big and small, of all shapes. Aeroplanes fly over.

A person sweeps the road on the other side of the fence, between us and the Purple House. People from the Purple House drop things.

Cars thump as they arrive at the Purple House, like the Purple House does when it`s dark.  Cars are all different sizes and shades; it`s like everyone has an idea on what a car should be.

People came and stood along the fence when it was light, and I could not see the Purple House.  Some looked like people from the Purple House.  They carried signs and blew whistles and sang and shouted. The Man just stood and watched them; they shouted.

I see a person who stands by the door of the Purple House.  He gives people things without looking at them, he just touches their hand.  If The Man is looking, he never does it.  Most people come and go without him noticing.

People with the trucks never lock them. No one ever tries to get in the trucks.  People with the trucks never seem to do anything, apart from look at the Purple House.

A person pushed the other person at the door of the Purple House and ran inside.  The throbbing got louder.  He ran out with other people behind.  You couldn`t see their faces.  He ran to the fence and tried to climb up.  The Man yelled at him, I barked.  The other people from the Purple House pulled on his legs, dragging him back down.  One had something shiny and punched him with it.  I saw blood.  They ran off. He was on the other side of the fence, lying alone in a dark red pool.  He did not move.  The Man looked. The Men in cars came to the other side of the fence.  The Purple House throbbed.