Keena Part 7- The Prisoner

Well… this cage was larger than the one at the circus. And she wasn’t made to do any of those stupid acts or make a complete fool of herself just for cheap laughs.

But those facts did not change Keena's bitter hatred and undying anger towards the world.

Again, the cage was barren. Again, there was virtually nothing to do or see. Again, she was always confined. Again, she was alone.

There was a large ball, a plastic tube tunnel –which Keena destroyed in a matter of hours- and a plastic slide, which she would just perch on top of, staring out at the rest of the world outside her cage. She’d sit up there for hours… staring. It’s all she could do. That or pull the fur out from her chest or gnaw on her limbs, unaware of the pain or bleeding that she would cause herself. It would only briefly relieve her of her crippling boredom.

When she wasn’t sitting on the slide, she was aimlessly pacing her cage. Which wasn’t much larger than a dog run. There wasn’t much to see or do. Outside her enclosure, she could see others. Containing other animals. But she barely saw any people. Which in some ways was a good thing. But in other ways, it wasn’t. She didn’t know how to feel about humans anymore. They were the cause of all of her misery and problems. Yet, they gave her food. It wasn’t even good food. Most of the time she would be given cheap apple juice and rather foul tasting mush or produce which would commonly be rotten and sometimes covered in maggots. Most of the time she wouldn’t eat. The “food” made her feel rather ill. That is if she actually had some though. A lot of the time, she went without food. But after some time, she wouldn’t feel the hunger anymore.

Keena only really saw one person. The woman who had taken her from the circus. She never heard the woman’s name. And for the most part, she didn’t speak. She’d just come up, throw in some food every few days along with water –which was in a big bucket in the corner- and just leave. Keena was wary of this person. She never walked right, as if she was on the verge of falling with every step she took. She always looked pale and rather sick. It wasn’t uncommon for her to be physically sick outside of Keena’s enclosure. Thankfully she would clean it up, the smell bothered Keena greatly. The woman herself smelled strange. Keena couldn’t really understand what it was. It was similar to smoke, but a sweeter scent. This was mixed with the vaguely familiar smell of alcohol. Keena was disturbed by this. Alcohol made people angry. And normally, when people were angry, they were violent.

Every now and again, the woman would enter Keena’s cage to clean it. She’d be chased into a small concrete shed, which was barely bigger than herself and bars on the door. She’d sit there and stare at the woman as she did her work. There were no words from the woman. Keena would get a fright whenever she approached her cage, causing her to scream and bite her own limbs in fear and it would take minutes for her to calm down and move into her shed.

There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. She would have nothing to do at all, leaving her listless and depressed. She’d pace around slowly and dimly with her head down and dragging her limbs. She wouldn’t stop for hours until she would eventually drop from exhaustion. Or sit in the middle of the enclosure, curled up with her arms wrapped around herself in an attempt of self-comfort and with her head low. There were times where she couldn’t bring herself to get up in the morning. She’d lie under a dirty blanket on the ground, without the will to eat or even sit. What was the point? Nothing was going to get better. It would never get better.

Few people would come now, but whenever they did, Keena was unsure of how she was supposed to feel. She would be relieved to see actual life in this place and it wasn’t completely barren. But they were humans. Why did it always have to be humans? These things were everywhere and never seemed to go away! Why where there so many?! People who did come would throw peanuts, shout and goad her. She started to carry around a dirty pink throw blanket and would wrap herself in it, trying to hide herself from their cruel eyes. It sank her further into her depression, up to the point when she wouldn’t react to the small crowds.

The only time she wouldn’t see anyone was during winter. Keena would huddle in the concrete shed, wrapped in her blankets in an attempt to warm herself. The cold was bitter and horrible. And the concrete floor and walls made it feel like she was sitting in a fridge. She would easily see her breath in the frozen air. She didn’t like winter now. At one point she did. A long time ago. But now it was only a reminder of what she endured in the circus. And the memories of losing fingers and toes to the bitterness were still fresh in her mind. She didn’t want to come out from this shed. Even when the woman would come to throw food into her enclosure. Her thin frame only made it worse.

But it wasn’t the deprivation and neglect that bothered Keena the most. It was the isolation. The loneliness and the long lasting and depressing solitude. The fact that she couldn’t see or hear any others was agonising. She knew there were others on this property, she could smell them, but they weren’t close to her and she would just be alone… completely. She would curl up in a foetal position, lying on her side, covering herself in her blanket. What was the point? There was nothing to look forward to. All she would do was sleep or look for any opportunities to escape this place. But she never found one. She would shut her eyes and try to reminisce about happier times. But she couldn’t… at seventeen years old, she was fully grown so any memories of the first few of her life had now faded into obscurity and could not be brought back. All she could recall was the misery and force she was subjected to by this species. It was never going to get better for her. She could not see how things could possibly get better. How could she? She had no reason to go on…

But something changed. It took two years but something changed. But whether it was a positive change or not was difficult for her to tell.

It was in the middle of the night when it happened. Keena was curled up under the slide, asleep. Everything was still and quiet. All that could be heard were the subtle rustling of the fir trees. It was calm, which helped Keena to sleep. Despite being on a hard surface.

*Snap*

Keena’s eyes flew open. What was that? She sat up, huffing. Looking around, she didn’t see anything.

*Snap*

Keena growled, turning around. She yowls at the sight that met her.

There were four figures, all in black masks, whispering aggressively to each other as one of them was cutting apart the wiring to her cage. Keena hooted and backed away fearfully. What were they doing? Who were they?! What did they want!? They had torches which they were waving around in front of them.  One of them seemed to spot Keena as it approached her. Keena yowled and stood on her knuckles in a threatening manner. The figure didn’t seem to notice. It kept advancing on her. She noticed that it was holding a large club. A frightening memory flashed through her mind. Her breathing quickened and became shallow as she began to panic. She shook all over and started flailing her arms. She wanted that person to get away from her!

Suddenly there was a loud *Bang* which made Keena howl. She turned to see the surrounding area erupt in flames! Keena gasped and leapt back at the sight. The stench of the smoke stung her nose and eyes, making her panic. She could hear the cries of other animals. Lions, tigers, other big cats, primates, bears and wolves all panicking and screaming in terror and agony. Keena shrieked, jumping onto the fence, as far away from the flames as possible.

The masked people were yelling in triumph. Triumph of what?! They might have killed the other animals! Or the woman!

Keena was too distracted by the fire to notice the figure swinging the wooden club at her, striking on the back, between her shoulder blades. Keena shrieked and fell forward. As she did, she felt someone jump on her from behind, pinning her arms while another threw some kind of bag over her head, completely blocking her vision. Keena howled and tried to fight, but there was too many of them. One of them had tied her hands and feet together. She squirmed and let out a loud shriek as she felt herself being lifted by about four of them, but she was too restrained to get away. Breathing shallowly, Keena could only allow herself to be carried.

Keena panted fearfully, feeling as though she was suffocating inside the bag. She didn’t know how long she had been carried for until she was suddenly dropped on the ground harshly, her skinny frame made it even worse. She could still smell the smoke, but it was further away. She felt her hands being untied and the bag was finally taken off of her head. She inhaled heavily, thankful for the fresh air. She could still hear the masked people yelling behind her. She stood up upright and turned to face them in the darkness. She blinked and tilted her head. What motivation did they have to do this?

One of them noticed her.

“Go on!” He gestured behind Keena, making her turn and look. Among the dark, she could see that they were now in a more feral area of Florida. But she couldn’t make out where she was.

The group suddenly started shouting things such as “Go on, be free!” and stuff that Keena didn’t understand. Their shouts were scaring her, making her remember from before. She hooted quietly and took a few reluctant steps away. They kept repeating that phrase over and over, making her even upset.

When she didn’t run like they said, she suddenly notice one of them lift the thick wooden pole from before.

Keena howled at the sight of it and –suddenly unaware of what she was doing- took off into the darkness. Their shouts ringing in her mind.

She would have stopped running. But the thought of being beaten kept her going. Even if it was into the unknown and obscure.