Tales of the Children's Macabre: 5(Akira) Story Seven: the Tale of the Girl in the Cage

Tonight, there was no small talk. Just a story. As soon as John mentioned the dog in the cage, everyone went quiet. Even the cat looked serious. John was walking down one of the forest trails when he spotted it. The dog. It had a huge chunk of its flesh missing, and was obviously dead. It shouldn’t have been for long, the flesh was still fresh and the blood was still wet. But it was obvious that the dog suffered from hunger and dehydration. John let the dog out, dug a deep grave ( his eight year old mind thought that if he dug deep enough, the bugs would not get to the dear dog) and put the dog in carefully. Afterwards, he buried the dog. John could still swear he could feel the cold pelt of the unfortunate dog. And oh, what a pretty pelt it was! If it weren’t for the terrible piece missing in the middle, the pelt would make an excellent rug. Papa thought of the story for a second, then went on with a brand new story.

Once here was a girl in a cage. She did not remember how or why she was in there, all she knew was that she could not get out. Days passed by, then weeks, then months, then years, until the little girl forgot what her face looked like, what her name was, and how old she was along with time itself. The seasons passed, and only a few people stopped to glance. The little girl did not understand why she was so invisible to so many people, and why the people who did stop and glance would not speak with her. The longer she stayed in there, the harder the bars got, she realized. She wished that she would have gotten out when she got the chance. Nobody stopped to look at her, nor pay any attention to her. People just walked by her little cage of solitude without a second thought. One day, a boy walked up to the little girl.
“ hello. How are you?” he asked. The girl knew how to speak by watching other people, but she was speechless. Someone stopped to pay attention to her of all people.
“ i-im okay,” she stammered. The little boy smiled. Every day from then on he would stop by, and every day their friendship grew. One day, the little girl wished with all her heart that she would get out of her cage. But no matter how long or how hard the little girl pulled and pushed, her bars of endless solitude would not break. She had been in there for too long, and had been alone for too long.
“ I’ll stop by at six o’clock, okay?” the little boy said. The little girl nodded, but she still wished that she could get out of her cage. By six fifteen, the girl was getting worried, for the boy had not arrived. She tried to break her bars, even though she knew that that was next to impossible to achieve. But then, the bars shattered and the cage disappeared into thin air. She ran frantically, in search of her best friend. She found him surrounded by other kids.
“ I thought that you would meet me by six o’clock,” she said. The boy ignored her statement.
“ You’re out of your cage!” the little boy exclaimed.
“ yes! It was your kindness that made it happen, my friend” she said. Her smile disappeared when she saw the little boy cringe.
“ Sorry, but I forgot. As if I would put a little freak at the top of my priorities.” The little girl was crestfallen. The little boy walked away with his friends snickering behind them. His smiling eyes looked back at her, and a mean grin was spread across his face. He continued walking, leaving the little girl alone. As he did, the little girl ran after him. As she did, she felt the hard slap of bars hit her chest. She was in her cage again, except the bars of solitude were stronger than ever.

---