Looking up at the ceiling through her cage, Leah noticed a shiny black orb. It appeared to be a security camera, similar to the type that you see in a department store. Most of those were fake, but she knew deep inside that this one was functioning, and someone was watching her. With her face red with rage, a determination settled over her and she rose to her knees. Stretching out her arms, she gripped two bars on opposite walls of her cage and began rocking her body weight back and forth, hoping that she could some how tip the cage over and it would break, as unlikely as it was.
After several motions, she found a rhythm that started to lift the side of the cage. It was beginning to work and she began to put all of her might into the rocking. Her arms felt like they were going to rip out of the sockets, but she kept it up, her loud, guttural grunts echoing through the tiny room.
“Stop that!” a loud voice commanded from overhead and Leah froze in shock. Having lost her momentum, she pulled her aching arms around her and looked up at the camera, her eyes filled with hate and despair. “There is no use trying to escape. A gorilla couldn’t force its way out of that cage.”
“What do you want?” she asked quivering, terrified of the answer.
“If you continue to fling yourself around, you will be further restrained,” the electronic voice responded blankly. “Drink some water, or someone will make you. Now.”
Hands trembling, she picked up the bottle and opened it. Once she brought it to her lips, something instinctual took over and she gulped it down until she was out of breath. When she was done, Leah collapsed into a heap on the mattress, letting out long sobs and curling up into a ball. She pressed her forehead against one of the cold iron bars of her prison and watched the light fading through the tiny round window. She lay there, crying until her tears were spent and then gradually drifted off to sleep, feeling the eyes of her electronic observer on her bare helpless body.
The sound of a lock opening jerked her awake and Leah moved to the back her cage, covering her breasts with her hands and staring wide eyed toward the door of the room. To her relief, a tiny and weathered Hispanic woman walked in carrying a plate of food that she slid through a slot in the front of the cage.
“Hola,” Leah said, the inviting aroma of spicy seared pork filling the room and making her mouth water. “Please help me!” she begged in Spanish, but the little old woman wouldn’t even make eye contact. She walked over to the window, opened it and then quickly shuffled out of the room.
Leah crawled over the food and attacked it. If she was going to be poisoned, so be it. It would probably be better than whatever her captors had in store for her. As she finished, she tried to listen to anything that could give her a clue to what lie outside the room. It was daylight again, but she could hear nothing outside her door. Although she sat very still, it seemed like she was moving. She rose to her knees and pushed her head against the top of her cage, straining to peek out the window.
Slumping down in defeat, Leah looked up and saw that a bird had landed on the windowsill. A rush of excitement ran through her as she reached toward it. It bounced around for a bit, looking at her with as much curiosity as she had for it. She recognized it as a Least Tern, a gray sea bird with a black head and bright yellow beak. Leah knew a great deal about birds. She was a zoologist, specifically an orinthologist who specialized in the study of birds. Although she held a master’s degree, she’d never been able to truly pursue her passion and currently worked as a manager at a department store, earning barely enough money to pay off her college debt and make the rent on her crummy apartment.
It flew away as quickly as it appeared and Leah pondered its meaning. As fresh air filled the room, she detected the distinct salty smell of seawater, and finally started to figure out where she was. The room was moving, she’d seen a seabird, and the air was salty. She was on a ship, on the ocean, and obviously very far from her home in Chicago.
She looked up at the camera and wondered what was in store for her. Panic had settled into a strange calmness as she accepted her fate, whatever it would be. She wasn’t leaving much of a life behind, if it did in fact end. Actually, she was rather depressed much of the time, and life seemed to be nothing but one meaningless day after another, with nothing to look forward to. She hated her job, she hated living in the city, had no family and no real friends. Her 27 th birthday had recently passed and she hadn’t been in a real relationship since college, and it seemed unlikely that she would ever find a decent guy in time to have children. As terrifying as this was, if she allowed her mind to run through the possibilities of what was likely to happen to her, at least it was a little, well, exciting.
The day passed slowly as Leah lay there on her mattress, noting that it was strangely comfortable and covered with soft cloth. As the sun began to set, the little old woman returned with another meal and more water, this time closing the window before exiting promptly. It was once again delicious and Leah thought it odd fare for someone who was probably going to be sold into slavery. As it got dark, she once again curled up and slept through the night soundly, hopeful that tomorrow would be a more interesting day.
The old woman came in early that morning and tossed a small sandwich inside her cage before covering it entirely with large canvas cloths, tying them securely at the corners of the cage. Leah tried to eat but the anticipation was overwhelming and she simply sat there in silence, waiting. The next time the door opened, she heard several male voices and her heart started pounding so fast she though it was going to leap out of her chest. They were speaking a Spanish dialect she was unfamiliar with, and talking so quickly she couldn’t really make out what they were saying, but they seemed to be referring to her as mere cargo to transport, as if there were oblivious to what was inside.
Leah didn’t dare make a sound and lay down as motionless as possible as the cage was maneuvered through the tight doorway. Light filtered through into the enclosure as the canvas started to flap in the breeze and she gratefully inhaled the fresh air. The sounds of a bustling port tickled her ears and she peered out through a gap between the cloths to see that she was being carried down a ramp toward a truck. She was hastily loaded on to the back and secured with straps thrown over the top of her cage.
The engine started up and the smell of diesel filled her nostrils, but quickly dissipated as the truck pulled away from the port. Leah continued to look out of her enclosure and saw that she was in some tropical country, probably in Central or South America. There were fruit vendors on the corners and impoverished children playing in the streets as the truck made its way through a run down third world city.
Soon there reached an unpaved road and Leah watched all signs of civilization disappear into the background. Bright sunlight almost blinded her as she surveyed the countryside whizzing by while she was tossed around in her cage every time the truck hit a bump, which seemed to be constantly. Savannahs dotted with red blossomed trees stretched out as far as she could see. The scenery was so beautiful she forgot for a minute that she was naked, trapped behind iron bars and had been illegally transported to a foreign country.
They drove for hours as the hot sun beat down on her covered cage. She would have surely roasted to death if it weren’t for the breeze from the traveling truck. Soon the blank countryside became more and more forested and the truck slowed down considerably to compensate for the pitted ground that passed for a road.
After a few minutes of traveling at a crawl, heat and humidity began to fill Leah’s enclosure. It must have been around noon and the overhead sun was barely tempered by the canvas covering her cage. She was so enthralled by her forested surroundings that she didn’t notice the temperature increasing as she continued to look out through a small slit between the cloth panels. One summer after college, she’d done an internship in the rainforest of Brazil and had fallen in love with the jungle. She’d always wanted to live and work there permanently, but it just wasn’t in the cards. Leah was so excited to be back, she almost didn’t care how she’d got here. At the very least, she’d die in a place that she loved.