One afternoon, when I was five years old, I was at my Aunt’s house playing outside with my cousins and siblings. We played basketball, we rode our bikes down the street, and it was really fun. Then I start to run to the back of the house, which was facing the alley way. I stopped in my tracks to see a very dim lime-green light come from the alleyway. Scared, I hid behind the massive tree that was in the middle of the dirt lot, placing my hands on the dry, tough bark.

I began poking my head out every few seconds to make sure what I was seeing was real or just mind games. Every time I peeked out my head, the light grew larger and crept closer. My heart began to beat like a drum being played at a high-school football game, and everything moved in slow motion. I closed my eyes shut and tried my best not to make a single sound. I could see a dark green tint inside my eyelids.
Finally, I opened my eyes to see something very interesting, it was a dog. The first thing I noticed was the color this dog was emitting a light green hue from its fur.  I got very excited because I’ve always liked tiny, soft, furry dogs. Princesa was a mix between a corgi and a husky.  I was scared at first but the dog had a nice smile and it looked very cute, and I began playing with it. My cousins and siblings didn’t see anything wrong with it, they thought it was completely fine because the dog was really friendly.
I also noticed they didn’t see the tint that hovered around the dog, but I let it go and continued playing with the dog. She didn’t have a nametag so I wanted to give it a name. I came up with the name “Princesa” which meant princess in Spanish. After that we ran around the house, she chased me, and I fell to the ground after I tripped over a rock. She began licking my face with her sandpaper-like tongue, and I was laughing the whole time.
She had very light brown fur that looked like soft blankets, and it felt like soft blankets too, she had a small pouty face, like a Labrador. She had light green eyes that matched the light she gave off. She could fit in your pocket because she was very small. I was having the time of my life, we played all day. As it got darker, her tint shined much brighter. It seemed like I was the only one that noticed the light coming off of her fur, not even my cousins or siblings that were playing with me and Princesa all day.
It was getting pretty dark outside and I notice in the corner of my eye the green light fading away. It was Princesa, and she was walking back towards the alleyway. I ran after her begging her to come back and play, but she ignored me. My cousin Jose tried pulling me back from chasing after her in the dark. Heavy tears ran down each cheek. I was yelling at the top of my lungs “Come back!” I began choking on my words as the light was slowly fading away. Finally, there was no green light, and there was no hope of her coming back.
My cousin calmed me down enough to get me back inside where we were going to eat pizza. I was much happier as I grabbed the perfect slice. Oozy, gooey cheese ran down the sides. Giant saucers of pepperoni covered the cheese. The crust was lightly sprinkled with herbs and spices. I had a great time with my family the rest of that night.
A few months went by, and I can remember being at my Aunt’s house again and she had a newspaper in her hand. I couldn’t help but notice a picture of Princesa on the main cover. I ran up to her, swiftly snatched the newspaper out of her hand and began glancing at it. From what I could understand at a kindergarten reading level is that Princesa was a guinea pig for scientists.
The scientists were amateurs, they never worked for the government and they were conducting experiments on dogs illegally. From the size to the breed of the dog, they had a different colored glow to identify them. Even though their information is free to the public, they still haven’t been caught. I was determined to be that person, to put an end to it all, and save other animals like Princesa.
From further reading, there has been suspicion of these experiments being held down by the river, inside an old factory. The place has been abandoned for decades, a perfect place for the scientists to set up. The next couple of days, I planned out how I was going to sneak in and sabotage the experiments and save the dogs.
Strategies were thought of, timing was calculated, and escape plans were thought out. This Friday, late at night, I was going to go down into the old factory. Countless hours of waiting, the time has finally come. It was two in the morning, and I was ready to sneak out. I left my window unlocked and slightly open so that I can sneak back in without opening the front door.
The factory was only a few blocks away, close enough to walk. I peered up a small hill to get a good view of the factory and synchronize my makeshift map and the building itself. I was shocked. I could see a very dim glow coming from a basement window. “That must be where the scientists are.” I thought to myself.  I sneaked up to the vents on the side of the building, where I was going to enter. I peered open the vent window, and crawled in.
I began following the sounds of crying dogs and laughing humans. My tears hit the metal below me like bullets, making a loud echoing sound every time a tear fell off my cheek. I took twists and turns, arriving on top of the biggest room of the building. Rows and rows of tables were spread out the whole place. From dogs, cats, and even grown men were laying down on these tables.
I leaned out a little more to get a better view, but I didn’t notice my shirt pocket was open, and my pencil was slowly slipping out. I noticed it in the corner of my eye, but I was too busy peering around the room, trying to find Princesa. I felt the tip of the pencil stretch my shirt and it felt like slow motion as it made its way in through the crack in the vent, and hit the floor.
My heart dropped at the moment and I froze, there was no getting out of here in one piece. I heard a scientist yell something in a foreign language, it sounded German, or even Russian. Sirens cried, red lights began to flash, I knew I was finished. I tried escaping the same way I went in, but there was a number of people waiting outside for me.
The last thing I could remember was being dragged into that same room and being slammed onto one of the empty tables. They strapped my legs first, very tight and close together, and then it was my arms. Leather straps were suffocating my wrists. The last thing on the list was to fix my head straight and to point it upward. I looked to my left and to my right, but no one was there anymore.
My eyes began to close very slowly, as I see a faint glow in the veins of my arms begin to grow and take over, and my body became numb. I heard whispering voices in the distance. The lights were switched off, and then there was an absolute silence. My eyes closed shut, one last tear to pierce my eyelid and run down the side of my face.