The donkey handlers lead Jesse, Melinda and the others into a large group of stalls in the market. There are people everywhere yet Jesse and the others are powerless to tell any of them the truth.
Jesse sees a young child with what he assumes is the boy's parents. Jesse feels a pang of jealously towards the boy. Jesse feels the boy is lucky to be human; to have the ability to speak; to be able to wear clothes, bathe, eat human food and to have human opportunities.
I have to say something to him. Tell him not to give in; it isn't worth it.Jesse tries to speak, unfortunately, only braying escapes his lips. His brays mean nothing to the boy who looks at Jesse with a mocking expression.
"Mommy, what's that donkey saying?" The boy asks.
"Nothing dear; he's just making noise," the boy's mother says.
"How come he smells funny?" the boy asks.
That question stings Jesse. It makes him truly feel like a beast. It's not my fault. This body just does this by itself. Should the boy refer to another human in the third person, Jesse knows the kid's mother would tell him how rude that is. For Jesse however, people will probably referring to him in the third person for the rest of his life. I'm just a thing now; property. My needs don't matter any more.
"It's because donkeys arn't clean. They're just animals. They don't understand about being clean and taking baths," the kid's mother says.
If only she knew the truth. Jesse imagines the child and his mother turning into donkeys for a few fleeting seconds. If they spent time like this, they'd treat donkeys with more respect. How can they expect me to take a bath or shower with hooves? How can they expect me to hold a conversation when I can only bray!
Jesse watches the child and his parents walk off. They can go back to their human lives. I'm stuck here, like this. Jesse feels the fight draining from him. Even with Melinda beside him, he knows that they cannot comfort each other with more then nuzzling and brays.
The days progresses and several of the other donkeys are purchased by various people. Each donkey that Jesse sees a human walk off with brings a shiver to his spine. He knows each of them are leaving a life, friends and family behind against their will. He also knows that any of them could be Josh. Where before Jesse and his friend had their lives ahead of them, now, Jesse can only hope that Josh ends up somewhere and with someone that will treat him in a humane manor.
"This jack and jenny are fine specimens. They'll suit your needs well," a voice says.
Jessie looks at Melinda before looking at a man standing in front of their pen.
"Very well then; I'll take them both," the same voice says. Jesse sees that it's a man that seems to be in his forties. Jessie nuzzles Melinda as best as he can. They both bray, knowing that this will be their new life.
Jesse considers resisting but he sees little point. Without speech, he cannot think of a way out of this.
The attendant opens the door to Jesse and Melinda's stall and puts halters on both of them before handing them off of what will become their owner.
***
The man leads Jesse and Melinda into a waiting truck. He drives them to a farm that is some distance from the market. When Jesse and Melinda walk out and into the field, Jesse finds the air warm and fresh.
The farm smells all around Jesse bother him but he knows that he and Melinda are going to have to adjust to them.
Over the proceeding weeks and months, Jesse's life becomes routine. He and Melinda eat, sleep and do work. For the most part, the work they do is light, so he has few complaints.
Initially Jesse found the thought of becoming human on a daily basis. However, as time passed, those thoughts grew increasingly rare. Jesse grows used to seeing Melinda as a donkey and finds himself forgetting what she looked like as a human. In fact, he finds himself much more interested in her donkey appearance.
He adjusts to his inability to do more then bray and soon, finds himself content with communicating only the basic things. Since his and Melinda's needs are basic, they don't need to communicate much.
For the most part, Jesse and Melinda spend their time standing in the field. It allows Jesse to get a lot of thinking done. One day, several months after they became donkeys, Jesse started feeling strange.