…but were those benefits really worth it, wondered Jay.

Free room and board, food and exellant pay was what had appealed to him when the young man, fresh out of university, had applied to the job in an effort to earn money and please his parents.

But then, there were the downsides.

He had strict instructions and could not divert from them. He was on call 24/7 and hardly ever left the building he worked in, seeing as the room he lived in was in his work building. Being always on call, he never went out for fear that he could get drunk or lose his phone. A cleaner came in from time to time, which was good because his vacuum had broken. He ordered food off DoorDash. His visits with his parents were limited to video calls, phone calls, and texting. And forget his social life. 

The benefits were okay… the apartment was nice and when he was done for the day he sat on the couch and watched tv.

But then there was… _the beast._

_ _The bane of his existence and the reason he was here. He was key bearer to the gigantic thing, which resembaled a wolf swelled to the size of a car. It was a science experiment gone wrong, so necessary precautions had to be taken, and lucky Jay had one of the only keys to the things domain. Every day he had to open the door and crawl into the cage that uncannily resembled the cage to keep divers safe from sharks, except stuck to the wall. He actually had to climb in there, toss a steak of overly huge size into the enclosure, and then, looking like an idiot, pour water into the beast’s bowl through a large watering can. All in his cage. Then he crawled back out and went to sit on his couch. It was easy but terrifying. One day, he slipped and fell through the bars of his cage. The beast ran over and he prepared for death, but instead… It cuddled him and stuck it’s oversized head under his arm like it was waiting for pets. Shocked, Jay looked down at it. Looking at it closely, he realized it resembled a husky more than a wolf. It was probably actually a dog, not a dangerous predator. Just… big, because of a lab experiment. Catiously, Jay stroked the beasts head. It wagged its tail and leaned in to the stroking. Later, Jay lay in bed, smiling. He looked over at the enclosure, where a window showed into it from his bedroom. He fell asleep soon after. So in the end, was it worth it? Yes.