the long walk

The morning air was cold and still when Dogday and CatNap lined up at the white starting line painted across the cracked highway. A hundred others stood beside them, silent, nervous, waiting for the signal. The soldiers watched from the edge of the road, their rifles resting on their shoulders. No one spoke. The only sound was the wind sweeping through the empty fields. Dogday glanced at CatNap — his friend’s eyes were calm, but his tail flicked with quiet worry. They both knew the rules: keep walking, no matter what. When the siren blared, the line of walkers began to move. The Long Road stretched ahead, disappearing into a wall of mist. And so it began — step after step, mile after mile, a journey where only one could reach the end.