There were at least sixteen of us in the terrarium, each one of us small, pink, and hairless, but I didn't discover that for at least a week - -or at least that's how long I think it was. I had no concept of time then. None of us did. The first few days of my existence, the entire world was shrouded in a pleasant blue-gray. I was blind, but it wasn't until I gained my sight that I would realize that blindness is a blessing.

Our kibble was always stale. At least that was predictable. Everything else about our environment varied from hour to hour. Sometimes we were too cold, so we huddled together to generate hear; other items we were so hot that we jumped into the water bowl to sooth our skin. The only constant sound was the murmur of my brothers and sisters, otherwise our ears were slammed by bell, horns, and buzzers. Of course, I didn't understand the purpose of the cacophony then. I just accepted it as part of my daily life. When there was a particularly loud sound, I scuttled beneath the wood shavings with my siblings.

When I was finally able to see, I found that we were all pale and blue-eyed, but before I could begin to explore my surroundings, I was lifted by The Hands. I had been stroked, spanked, and clasped by The Hands so many times before that I was familiar with each and every ridge, wrinkle, and scar, but the hairs were by far my favorite. I nibbled at them gently until one of The Fingers pinched my leg, which hurt enough to stop. As soon as I was taken by The Hand, I squeaked, but it was too late. The Thumb clasped me down and The Fingers began wrapping something around my eyes and I became blind again. I continued eating, sleeping, and excreting just as I had before, The only difference was that I had seen my siblings. I had seen The Hand.

I described my experience to one of my sisters at mealtime, but she warned me that I wasn't supposed to speak.

"Why?" I asked, but she didn't answer. I heard her crunch on a piece of kibble and then spit it out. The rest of my brothers and sisters were silent, probably because most of them were asleep. I curled up beside my youngest brother, Spud, and tried to sleep, too.

When I woke up, everyone was still quiet. A few of them scurried past me to lap some water or crawl beneath the crumpled newspaper for warmth, but most of them were motionless. Suddenly, the floor vibrated. 

The Hands were coming.

The vibrations faded momentarily and then The Hands jostled the terrarium until the water splashed out of our bowl. 

Then we were left alone for a while.

The Hands returned a while later for my oldest brother, Coleman. He screamed, but none of us could help him. The Hands had taken him and that was it.

"Where do you think Coleman is?" Spud whispered at mealtime.

"SHHH! You're not allowed to talk," I said.

"But they're talking in the other terrarium."

I dropped my piece of kibble. "What?"

"They're talking in the other terrarium."

"I heard that," I snapped. "Which other terrarium?"

"The one across from us."

"How do you know it's there?"

"My blindfold fell off yesterday, but it took a while for The Hands to notice, so I spent the time I could exploring. That's when I caught a glimpse of the terrarium beside us. It's huge. Almost everyone's - -". Spud stopped. The vibrations started up again and we knew that The Hands were approaching us.

"Butters! Help me! Save me, Butters!" Spud shouted, but rescuing him would've been impossible.

"Bye, Spud," I mouthed.

Several mealtimes passed before I sensed that I was all alone in the terrarium. I raced madly from one corner of the terrarium to the other, hoping to find another body. I bumped into something soft, but I couldn't identify it. I backed up away from the object until I stepped into my kibble dish and onto The Hand. Its massive fingers curled around me and ripped off my blindfold. Spud lay in the corner of our terrarium, dead. He was the soft something I had bumped into shortly before. And he wasn't the only dead one, either. In the second terrarium Spud had mentioned earlier, all of my brothers and sisters lay in a pile. I tried to shrike, but The Fingers pinched my mouth shut. I was then thrown into a dark, cardboard box and The Hand disappeared. At first, I was too trepidated to move, but when my mind finally thawed enough for me to think, I started to chew at the walls of the box. Maybe I could escape. 

An eternity later, I had carved a hole large enough for me to fit through. I slinked out of the box, past the terrariums, past all of the strange objects that had been part of my daily life, but I had never seen before. I slid beneath one of the floor tiles and disappeared from that place. Forever.