HebStav Ziv
For if you are reading this now, I am no longer here.
My body was already beaten up and humiliated, completely crushed by those who walks on two. And my soul? Was taken long before that. What is a body without the happiness of existence?
At the same day, I was breathing my last breath, the newspaper headlines didn’t say “ A vile was murdered”, the hearts of my growers didn’t go sad, and my mother was not aching for my lost - she was no longer alive.
Only a few months before then, I was born.
Above me, my mother, cleaning my body with her big warm tongue, not taking her eyes off me. I enjoy her motherly loving care.
From a distance, I can hear sounds. Steps approaching. I was with my mom for a short period of time, and here comes the one who walks on two feet, opens the gate, and comes towards me. MOTHER, MOTHER!
He is taking me with him. “Where do I go?” - No respond.
From a far, I can hear my mom crying and calling me to come back. I call to her back, till my voice is no longer heard. Only several moments I had with her, before I was taken away. I need her. She is dearest to me, and I will see her no more.
I am thirsty for my mother’s milk, this liquid of life held inside her body just for me. Instead, they give me a cold liquid from a bottle, and my mother is taken away to another place, where they use pumps to take out the milk in her body, my milk, and sale it.
The one who walk on two, getting closer, step by step. Closer he gets, the fear becomes stronger. I can see him handling metal equipment, and suddenly, a steam iron burns my flash, marks a number on my skin. I lost all senses from the pain.
For a few months, I was free to live peacefully inside my mother womb, where my body and soul grew stronger, without being aware of the awful reality outside. And now, the one who walks on two doesn’t leave me alone. I look at his eyes, beg for my soul! A sharp pain crawling up my head, my growing horns are being destroyed with Sodium Hydroxide.
The pain is unbearable!
The days are passing by, and my body is keep being tortured, my testicles are being removed so I will stay submissive, and get fat faster.
I am left alone to deal with the pain.
After I grew a little bigger, I was sent out to the fields. Maybe you spotted me on one of your drives to somewhere. Maybe I was eating grass, and you were deluding yourself that I am living a good life. Maybe it even helped you to clean your conscience, when you decided after to go and have my brother’s meat as your dinner.
If you only knew it’s a short stop to my last stop in this life. They have decided the date of my death, the same day I was born.
The months of walking free in the fresh air, passed quickly. I was forced fed, caged between steal fences, and crowded together with other calves as me.
A cruel irony. Parts of my body were taken, the day I was born. And now, they are trying to get me fatter, so I can become their best meal on the menu.
I am sick. I suffer from coordination problems, diarrhea and constipation. My stomach is swollen from forced feeding. Who will save me now? No one.
After a few months in hell, I hear the sound of an engine, the gates are opened, and I am now in an overcrowded truck with my friends, dehydrated and weak. Our screams are not heard.
Suddenly, the truck stops, and the walk of death begins. I can sense the taste and smell of fear all around me. My friends are trying to stop, trying to prevent the inevitable end.
And those who walks on two? Keep kicking, using iron sticks, and electricity shocks, just to make us all keep going to our death.
The wheels of the slaughter house never stops.
On the entrance to the narrow path, I can smell a familiar scent.
My life began with my mother's blood around me, and now it will end with my own blood poured out of my throat in brutality.
I am trying to back off, run away, but the path is too narrow. My head get stuck in the wall, and an electricity shock hits my body. I have no choice but to move forward.
My breath gets weaker, when suddenly I get pushed down on my back.
A big sharp knife is above my neck.
The blunt blade is cutting my neck. The pain shocks me.
I fight back, kick, and scream - I WANT TO LIVE!!
My blood is slipping out. Darkness surrounds me. And I am gone.
I could have lived for 25 years, but I was sentenced to death, before my second year in this life.
Pointless life, full with agony for my soul and body.
Will I ever see my mother again? Walk with her over the green hills, under the blue skies, and the warm sun? Will I ever taste her warm milk again?
One sweet moment I had with my mother. No more.
