Caged - A pet-girl's story

Lost

The gardens of the Vance Estate were vast, well cared for and full of greenery. Like the family itself, everything there grew naturally, at its own pace, without any parent need for intervention. No animal shaped hedges or neatly trimmed cypresses ruined its perfection with their tackiness and, as Kate had never needed to scold Alex before, no tree or bush had ever been altered.

However, under a logical analysis, there seemed to be an order behind it all, as such beautiful place couldn't be so harmonically balanced by mere chance. And yet all the gardener did was buy a few seeds many generations ago and plant them in the places the garden planner had suggested. After that, the plants had taken care of the rest, growing off the nutrients provided by the original soil with no need of compost or fertilizers. To that day, the gardener's only job was to turn on the sprinklers twice a day in the summer and only once during the colder months.

Many would think that keeping a gardener for generations, when its only job was as sophisticated as pushing a button a couple of times a day, was a waste of resources, but Mr.Henson was as important a part of the Estate as the walls of the house itself. He loved everything about the house he grew up in, and the personnel was even more important and dear to Mr.Vance than the material components of the Estate.

Gipsy's sprint came to a stop when she exited the house and found herself in front of a garden so large it looked like her mental image of what the wilderness must look like. She felt almost free, as if the entire world lay there at her feet. The vegetation was thick and luscious between three or four white gravel roads that turned before she could see much of where they led to. The bushes and plants had cute little flowers in a wide variety of colors and forms. It was a breathtaking image and she just stood there for a long time before coming to her senses and remembering that she was there to look for Alex.

Her heart sank to her stomach. How was she supposed to find the other girl in a place that seemed to go on forever? There were several paths she could take, but where should she begin? Gipsy had never been outside except for the small yard at the Training Center, where she was sent once a day to exercise with her group. It was a simple thing, walking out of her cell, down the corridors and into the yard, guided by the guards that escorted her group back to their cells when the training hour was over. What if she took one of the roads and then got lost forever? How big was that place anyway? For all she knew it could be miles wide. Would they go looking for a lost pet if she didn't turn out for breakfast the following day? Would they find her or would she starve to death? It would be such a stupid way to die, she thought. But surely, a family so concerned about pets well being wouldn't’t just let her get lost. They would have a surveillance equipment installed, even if she couldn't see it. They would find her and make sure she was safe, if only to keep the world from knowing the activists were hypocrites.

That thought was what made her body move. She started walking down one of the central gravel paths, not really thinking about where it led. There was no way of knowing anyway and it was as good an option as any of the other three.

The tiny road twisted several times, like a snake, and the vegetation grew heavier the deeper Gipsy entered the... where was she anyway? The word forest came to her mind but the garden of that family didn't resemble the pictures she had been shown at all. It was more like a rain-forest, full of life and thick green plants that truly seemed to be happy to be alive, as she was of being... well, not free, but as free as anyone in her condition could ever dream of being without losing objectivity.

Gipsy took little steps, stopping every few yards to smell a flower or look at a particularly colorful bird perched on a branch. Usually very focused, her attention span was suddenly that of a small child discovering the world for the first time. After half an hour, she came to a stop when at a meadow ahead of her, with a small fountain and a white stone bench. That looked like a good place for Alex to be, she thought, except the girl wasn't there.

Her delicate porcelain doll skin was damp with sweat and her hair, now shorter, stuck to her forehead and neck, but Gipsy felt happy for the first time in her life. She felt free. Lost, sure, but free. She was the proud type who’d rather die alone in the woods than being forced to do another’s will for the rest of her life. She was thinking of that, when the vegetation to her right moved with a soft sound that put her immediately on guard all the same. A moment later, Alex came around the corner that was hidden from her view by a very old and thick tree that was as tall as a three story building.

Alex's eyes were red and swollen, as if she'd rubbed them with her hands after crying, making the mess worse. However, she flashed a shy smile at Gipsy and walked to her slowly, like the awkward child she was. Gipsy's body tensed, not knowing what she'd do next and with not enough information to make a guess, her instincts that yelled not to trust people kicked in automatically.