Captured Creature

Sometimes the things we cage should be the things we cherish

 

 

   The creature looks out of the cage at the people parading past. They all stop and stare at her, but she cannot speak words to tell them to please set her free. Her language is not their language, they would not understand. They haven't understood any of her kind, preferring to keep them locked up or to themselves when they can catch one. They would not even understand her tears if she allowed one of them to fall.

   Two young kids have approached the bars. They taunt her, offering her popcorn or peanuts before taking them out of her reach and giggling. It's okay though she doesn't need their food. Still she will play their game and pretend to be disappointed. Maybe then they will go away.

   But they don't. It takes some passing adults scolding them for teasing the animals to make them stop. Finally, they mumble, "She's no fun anyway" and move on to the next cage.

    She puts her face to the bars and watches them go, wondering what it's like to be free. She remembers a time when she roamed freely in the world before her captivity. She still cannot believe she allowed herself to be caught.

   An elderly couple approaches the cage, and she looks at them quizzically. The lines on their faces, the wrinkles of age strike her as curious. Why doesn't her kind look like that through the passing of years? Is there something she has missed, some quotient the creator left out of the mix? Or is it just that her kind pass with no warning and no requiem to signal that they were here. If these people, humans, pass from life and then from memory, her breed was of the opposite: passing first from memory, then from life.

   The old ones are holding hands and again the creature finds this curious. She had noticed this before among people. Many were those who approached her cage in a like manner, and she wondered if maybe they were afraid, taking comfort from the touch of another, or was this the way in which their kind showed their closeness. Could it be they were lacking in the closeness of spirit, the bond of emotional togetherness, that they had to have that physical touch to ensure they were connected? Or maybe she had it all wrong, and it was just a symbolic gesture of belonging to something far more than one's own self. So many questions for her mind, and many she had not thought of before. But now in her captivity, thoughts and daydreams were all she had time for.

   The elderly couple walk on to the next caged attraction and taking their spot is a young family. A father and mother, with three little children. As she watches from her cage, the mother leans down and whispers something in her little darling's ears. The creature cannot hear what she is saying, but she knows it has caught the children up in awe. They look on her with amazement, and one of the children, a little girl, even tries to hide shyly behind her father's legs.

   The creature steps closer to the bars. She wants to reach through the gaps and touch these human children. To remind herself of the purpose of creation, of that which she will never have, a joy she will never know. She longs for her family, yet knows they are far away, quite possibly lost or captured too. She bites her lip until it bleeds, not wanting to cry, but seeing this family together reminds her of her own siblings out there somewhere. Maybe even looking for her.

   And then she sees him. The young man she has glimpsed in her dreams before. He is standing across the way and staring at her cage. Trying to blend in with everyone else, so as not to arouse curiosity in his presence. But she sees him, and she knows. He has come to see her, just as he has every day for two months now. Sometimes he brings her bread that he feeds her through the bars. Other times he just stands there and looks at her. It's in those times she sees an intense sadness in his eyes as if her captivity is his fault.

   She doesn't know what to do to signal him. She opens her mouth to speak to him and strange sounds come out. It draws a teenaged couple near and they gawk at her through the bars. But she's not looking at them. Her eyes are fixed on the young man. They follow her gaze and see him too. The teenage girl smiles and coos, "Aw look, she has a crush on that guy."

   Her boyfriend nudges her. "Silly, animals don't have crushes."

   "She's not an animal, Billy".

   "Sure she is. She has fur and feathers, doesn't she?”

   "Well maybe she is an animal, but she has feelings."

   "You don't know that. Look at her face. She is just mimicking what she has seen on people's faces.' Then he leans towards his girl and kisses her on the mouth. She kisses him back.

   They both smile and look at the creature. She is trying to do with her mouth what they were, pursing her lips and making a smacking noise.

   The teenaged boy laughs. "Look at that. See, she's mimicking us. Just like a monkey."

   "She's not a monkey", says a voice from beside them. It's the young man the creature had been staring at. He has come up to stand at the bars next to them. "In fact, I'm sure she has a name, it's just the zoo hasn't come up with one yet, and well science is just dumbfounded."

   "Why", asks the girl.

   "Well, I do believe we haven't seen many of these around. I assume when they die their kind carry them off, because we have never found a dead specimen of her species. Personally, I think they are waiting for her to die off, so they  can cut her open and see just what she is."

   The girl cringes and turns worriedly to her boyfriend, who immediately goes on the defensive. "You shouldn't talk that way around my girl, mister. That's just sick."

   "What's sick about it? They might cut you open when you die too. Depending on the nature of your death of course."

   "I'm calling zoo security."

   The young man holds up his hands. "I didn't mean any offense, just making an observation on human nature, that's all."

   "What observation are you trying to make", the girl interjects.

   "That man will always enslave that which he doesn't understand. And then when he does, he becomes so afraid that he'll lose his notch on the evolutionary chain that he kills it."

   "You need help, mister", the guy says, pulling his girlfriend closer to him.

   "No, she does", the man replies pointing to the creature who is now clinging to the bars trying to be as close to the young man as possible.

   The teenaged couple move away from him, going on to the next exhibit, looking back warily to make sure he isn't following them.

   The young man turns back to the cage. The creature reaches through the bars and touches his face. He smiles. "They just don't understand", he tells her, and places his hand over hers. He strokes the fine white hair on her hand. "But how could they? They haven't seen the world through your pretty eyes."

   She makes a sighing noise, and suddenly understands why the humans hold hands all the time. Because they care deeply for one another.

   "It's strange", the man says. "Once you watched over me, and now I'm watching over you. In fact, you wouldn't be a prisoner if it hadn't been for me. It's my fault you're in there. I'm sorry."

   She makes a sound in her throat. She cannot speak human words but she hopes one day maybe she will be able to find a sound that will express her forgiveness. That will let her tell him that she loves him in a way no human ever could.

   "I've got to get you out of here", he finally says. "I can't let them keep you here like this."

   She runs her fingers through his long brown hair. She feels she wants to do what the teenage boy and girl had done, touch her lips to his and have him save her.

   He looks at her and smiles as if he knows what she's thinking. "I will save you, I promise."

   He steps back from the cage as another family approaches to look at the caged creature. Her fingers do not want to leave his hair, and they lightly brush his cheek as she brings her hand back inside her confinement.

   "Wow, was she just touching you", asks one of the kids, standing between their parents looking into the cage.

   "Yes she was", the man whispers, before walking away from the cage. The creature's eyes follow him as he goes. But unlike the other humans he doesn't move on to the next exhibit. Instead he turns to her, taking one last look before disappearing among the other zoo visitors.

   "Wow maybe she'll touch me too", the child happily exclaims.

   "Don't be silly Tommy", his mother scolds him. "No one gets touched by an angel anymore."

   The angel retreats to her corner of the cage and weeps, her broken wing wrapped about her.

  

   The man has almost left the park. He leaves out by the gate, drawing his coat around him. He’ll be back tomorrow and try to secure her release. He has lived among them long enough to learn the language, the mannerisms, and all the things that make them human. A feather falls from beneath his jacket and lightly drops upon the ground. He will not miss it. He has many more. He wishes to throw off his jacket, spread his wings and take to the air. But no, there will be time for that later. Once he has liberated his sister from her cage. Then they will fly together and leave these humans to their own devices and cruelties. He asks himself what the creator ever saw in these beasts. They should be the ones in cages...

 

 

Reviews

[Cherrie]

This story had a simple and easy stride. I just sat back and followed along, it was interesting and enjoyable, nice read. Cherrie

[M. N. Silva]

Excellent read.

[Mary Brown]

I will admit that I am not as impressed with this one as I was with the first one I read of yours, but this left me with such a sense of awe and hope...

It was beautiful and touching and creative. You are an amazing storyteller!

[N/a]

paul... will u ever cease to amaze me? with all the wonderful authors there are today, I can only imagine how hard it is to be original and yet... you are! kudos
your fan,
crys

[N/a]

paul... will u ever cease to amaze me? with all the wonderful authors there are today, I can only imagine how hard it is to be original and yet... you are! kudos
your fan,
crys

[Melissa M.]

Wow, this was really moving. I suspected that the ending would be something unique just as it is. It reminds me of a show (either Alfred Hitchock or Twilight Zone) where a human is captured by an alien race and displayed in a zoo-like setting. It really puts things in perspective when you consider how close humans can be to that very existence. Great job, welcome to my favorites list.