Changing Channels

Chapter 3

The cage bounced up, then down, making her tears scatter all over the sides of it. Her friends had put the cage into a big metal box open to the sky. It was connected to a closed space that looked much more comfortable than the one she was currently in. Benny and the woman had opened doors set into the comfier space, then crawled in, leaving her to the big box. Trickles of tears still streamed down her face, the sad aftermath of the loud crying she had let out when her body had turned against her.
It was a very small cage she was trapped in. There wasn't enough room for her to move at all, as if this cage had been made for someone a lot smaller than she was. She tried to flick her tail and winced in pain, causing a few more tears to spring up in her eyes.
I would much rather be in my room, she thought, looking through the bars of the trap she had led herself into to stare in awe at the metal walls she had been denied. They were so short! Her walls wove all the way around her body.
She shifted her head awkwardly around in her cage, trying to avoid pain but receiving it instantly.

Beepy would have protected me from this, she thought, frustrated.

But the pain of moving in the tiny cage was worth it. As she looked up, she saw a beautiful day shining through the bars in her cage. The sky shone a brilliant blue above her, puffy white clouds dancing through the endless, invisible hills the sky provided. She smiled; all her worries forgotten at the sight of the clouds above her. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to be on one of those clouds.

I wonder what they'd feel like, she thought. I bet they'd be softer than this cage, that's for sure!

The cold, hard metal cage was unwelcoming beneath her furry paws. She tried to glance down at it with her static-filled eyes, head not moving to prevent more pain flooding through her, but it was too much. The horrific, tiny room she'd walked into was just too small. She couldn't see a thing. She wanted to be free so badly, to run round the metal box her trap was trapped in at the very least, but she couldn't.

More tears began to well up in her eyes before streaming down. She gripped her paws into fists, not caring when the pain came to ward her movement off. Out! she thought angrily. I want OUT!

Her desperateness to be as far from her cage as possible rose deeply and mixed with the anger and pain inside her and she began again.
Let me out! Please! I just want... more tears streamed down her face. I just want out.

She looked up to the clouds again, imagining herself lying on the softest cloud in the world, able to run anywhere she wanted, able to sprint off away from the box that held her cage. My friends will be fine, she told herself angrily. I don't need to free them. They let themselves in, they can let themselves out.
But what if their legs are attacking them the way yours did? Her brain countered immediately, making her anger begin to subside. You'd have to save them if they were trapped.

The clouds were beginning to go by faster and faster. She imagined herself ripping the doors off the space the woman and Benny were trapped in heroically as they immediately crawled out and thanked her in joyous voices and offered to do anything she wanted. "I don't need a reward, I'm just happy you're safe" she would say, and then she'd pick them up and soar up to the sky so they could all sleep on soft, fluffy clouds and-

BUMP!

The cage jumped up again, this time more violently. The sharp pain dragged her back to reality with a sharp whimper. Suddenly, she heard a loud slam come from behind her. Beepy wasn't here anymore, he couldn't protect her from the unknown creature who had made the noise.
Maybe they're friendly! She tried to comfort herself.

"Well, we're here! You ready to be proven wrong yet again?" that was the woman's voice. She walked in front of her, eyes shining with pride and mouth twisted into a smug grin.
A noise of pure annoyance came from the other side and another, quieter, but still scary slam sounded from behind her. "Why do they keep pairing me with you, Emma? Is it because they know I hate you?"