“We want kids to grow up in my city. We want them to thrive in my city. The crime will be down in my city.” The mayor was an old one-eyed wolf, but he dressed like a Labrador. His personal groomer made sure that his fur was always metallic gold, almost glossy. But, being a wolf, his fur would always show the black and gray, so he needed grooming every morning before showing up in public.

The Secretary of Education was an old friend of the mayor. They used to run a gang together. But as they aged, they stopped liking sudden changes. They liked stability. Besides, the food was better when no one could steal it from them, but they could still do so legally. The whole point was to establish convoluted laws so that the citizens would see that the laws were in place, and they were working for all of them. The fact that they didn’t was not really worrying most of the citizens, as their main concerns were to provide for their families and get them educated.

In the pigs’ world, some were more decent than the others, but they were all pigs. And being omnivorous creatures, they would not mind stabbing a dove or two between the wings and gobbling up the fresh meat. When this happened, everyone would shake their heads and then go on with business as usual. Even doves, some scared, some unwilling to muddy the relationship with their bosses, while others completely supportive of the unusual culinary needs.

“Manager Pig Zounk, an interesting name you have.” The judge stretched her upper lip in anticipation of a good testimony.
“Your honor, I joined the school at the orders of the mayor to boost morale. It was low from the previous administrator, who was… eh. It does not matter… But I was warned by dear friend Erigk that there was this one particular dove, Gaet, who thought so highly of himself, just because he knows how to fly! He is arrogant. He claims that I never took flying class. I did. I am not in favor of all students flying. Before they learn flying, all students must learn crawling. Even doves! What happens if a dove cannot fly anymore, I ask? So, I ordered Gaet to stop trying to teach them to fly and focus on crawling. He was insubordinate! He violated my orders! He then told all the staff about me.”

The judge took a long time to prepare the sentence. She had to plan carefully and deliberately. The day came, and dove Gaet was given an Award. The “Award” was a substitute for the sentence. It sounded very positive for public perception. The judge found Dove Gaet guilty on all charges. She wrote that she trusted the words of the esteemed pigs in the management. She also wrote that the evidence presented by the defense was insufficient to dismiss any charges. The “Award” was to publicly cut off dove Gaet’s wings.

Crimson blood rushed from under the knife. The butcher was a jackal. He licked the knife after each cut. The cuts were meant to reduce bleeding and to cleanly shear the wings. Gaet moaned with his mouth closed. Tears were coming off his eyes. The blood splattered on his snow-white feathers. But he was standing. He did not kneel, did not bow, did not yield. He was standing tall.