Another World

Night One ~ Fiction ~ The Man In The Enclosure

"Why are you in there," she so sweetly asked. The man held onto the thick bars. His gaze drifting. "It's not a simple answer, little girl," he whispered. She blinked once, twice, three times. Silence hung in the air. Her lips twisted, brows furrowed. His eyes wandering. The man in the enclosure was not in good condition. His brown eyes showed age. Below them, his heavy eye bags sunk. Hair tousled any which way. Bruises lined his arms. It was evident he was not taken care of. Though parts of him still resembled a normal person. 

"Did you do something bad?" He leaned in close. His putrid breath filled her nostrils. "No," he whispered. "No. They just don't like me." "They," she asked with curiosity, eyes beaming with a sense of determination. Determination for what? She, herself was unable to answer.  His eyes shifted, darting from one person the next in the shadows behind her. Adults laughing, pointing, all those in awe of the other exhibits. "Them." Following his gaze, the girl was left adrift. "Who," she said slowly. 

"Who?" He looked her in the eye. Who? Why wasn't it obvious? The ones outside his cage. Not the children, no of course not. Them, the adults. The men, the women, they're all the same. The lock him up then act like he's simply disappeared. Another thing to be forgotten. 

The little girl's eyes widened far as she put two and two together. "The parents," she asked timidly. He nodded swiftly, leaning against the bars. "Not just the meandering parents. All adults. Every last one of them." The man in the enclosure practically hung over her, with his tight grip on the bars. "Why?" He cackled loudly. Why? If he knew that well things would be different. How so, he didn't know. She drew back in slight fear. How could he appear so friendly and so terrifying at once? "Please mister, is there any way I can help?" Her eyes looked into his. Releasing the bars, he fell to the floor. Sitting against the bars, he whispered, "I wish you could." Tears shimmered down her cheek.

"Shh, shh," he whispered, " I will be alright." She pushed off the bars. Marching towards her parents, she yelled, "Can't you help him?! This is not right. Please, please. He's miserable. You treat him no better than a bug! Please." A woman walked towards the little girl wrapping her in a hug. "What do you mean? Who?" The little girl looked upon the woman, frustration highlighting her face. "The man! The man in the enclosure, mother!" With brows furrowed she looked right at him. Her eyes sweeping the cage with uncertainty. "Ma'am, is everything okay," a zoo official whispered. The little girl and the main in the enclosures eyes met. At that moment, the two knew there was no point. No one would help.

"Honey we're leaving," she grabbed the little girl's hand dragging her away. "No! No," she screamed. Wiggling her way out of the tight grasp, she ran towards him. "I'll never forget you," she paused, looking him in the eye, "I will help you." With that, the little girl and the man in the enclosure parted ways.

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"That was a nice move you pulled today." The man looked upon his eyes. "She just wanted to help me," the man in the enclosure replied. The guard let out a hollow laugh, reaching through the cage he grabbed the man's shirt. "You're never leaving."