Double Bender

Part 28

That was when my first real day in prison began. Somewhere around the middle of the day, a guard unlocked the metal door and then knelt down in front of the wooden door. A smaller door on the floor opened, like a doggie-door or something, and a tray of food was pushed through. Then, she left without another word. I crawled over to the tray and looked over the food. It wasn't much, just about one small half of bread and a cup of water. Wait, water? Water! I stood up and bended the water out of the cup and started slashing the door like Katara did. I didn't care how crappy I felt, I was going to get out again...Well, I gave up about an hour later. The door was just too thick to budge. I downed the water in less than a second. Because of the bashing I gave the door, it tasted flat and it felt like there were splinters in the cup, cutting my tongue but I didn't even care. With the water gone, I grabbed the bread, lay down on the suspended bench and started eating. As I ate, I listened to the guards having their meaningless conversation. "Should we let her out with the rest?" the first guard asked. "Hell no!" said the second one. This time it was a female. "Warden's orders. Besides, you saw what she's capable of. If we let her out, she might escape again." "So we just leave her?" "Bingo," said the girl, sounding annoyed. Then they walked away. So I'm just stuck here, is that it? I thought irritably.

On the second day, I wolfed the food down in a second and I was still starving after that. I looked over at the barred window and saw some female guards pointing and laughing. The way they were staring at me made me feel like I was some sort of joke behind a wall. A joke that they could do whatever they wanted to because the joke couldn't hurt them and they'd get away with it. I sighed. "Piss off," I muttered. So this is what I've become? I thought. Just a zoo animal here for some bitches' entertainment? Wait a second....my dream! The dream I had in Ba Sing Se! It was trying to tell me my future! Okay, what happened? I was dancing with Zuko, okay, then he was gone. Yes. Then I felt fire burn my back. Right. Then, I collapsed and...I was caged in! And the people, they started crowding around me and jeering at me. That's exactly what my life has been like for the past month! I fall in love with Zuko, that's why I was dancing with him in the dream! Then, he's gone and he burns my back. That...pretty much just happened in real life. Then, I'm caged in and jeered at. That's what's happening right now! I'm in jail and people see me as some form of entertainment. They see me as an object that they control for their own pleasure. Someone who is not a real person, someone who is so different from someone else that they have to be caged for pleasure. Someone who's...a freak. I couldn't deny it. I guess old labels always stick to you.

The third day, I ate the food sluggishly, still a little sick and was moving very slow. On the fourth day, I disregarded the food altogether. On the fifth day, I got to thinking. I thought about my parents (no duh). For some reason, I thought one particular day when I was about five. My parents were having a very stupid argument about what kind of bender I'd be, if I was one at all. My dad thought I was going to be an earth-bender and my mom thought I was going to be a water-bender. The argument lasted for three days and at breakfast of the third day, I finally couldn't take it anymore. I bended a stone into my mother's breakfast and some water into my father's face. They looked at me and I said innocently, "Does that answer you question?" Then we laughed. That was one of the happiest memories of my life.

I thought of my friends. Where were they now? Did they even know where I was? Where was Zuko? Wow, I thought. It's seemed like years since the invasion, even though it was only five days ago. Wait a second, if the invasion was on July 26th, that was five days ago that means today is... "Chow time," a guard said. I leaped up as he crouched down to put the food through the door. He stood up and I grabbed his collar through the bars. "What day is it?!" I demanded, raging like an animal, clawing at the air, keeping a tight hold on his collar. "What?" he said. "What day is it?!" I asked again. "You're crazy!" the guard said. "Answer me!" I demanded. "I need backup!" the guard yelled. "I need backup over here! On the double!" Several guards flooded through the door and into my cell. They grabbed me and dragged me out into the hallway, towards the hallway where the coolers were. Crap, not again, I thought. "Please!" I said. "Answer me this one question and I'll stop." They quickly unlocked the first door again and threw me in. "Please," I said calmly. "What day is it?" The guard had a look of pity in his eyes. I admit, I must've looked pretty pitiful, ranting like a lunatic, asking what day it was. I guess he kinda felt sorry for me. Maybe not all the guards were happy about what they had to do to the other prisoners.

He sighed and said, "August first," as he closed the door. August first, I thought. I didn't expect it to come this quickly. If you're wondering why August first means this much to me, which it really doesn't. Well, here's why; August first is the day my life turned to shit, the day my parents died...my birthday. I was born on August first. Ten years ago today, my parents died. Today, I was officially sixteen. So here I was, ten years later, in prison, in an icebox. Gee, wouldn't Mom be proud (if you detect sarcasm, you would be correct). So there, sitting in an icebox, in a prison, alone, scared, sad, and now sixteen, I cried. I cried as hard as I'd ever cried in my life. "I give up!" I screamed. "I give up!" They had won. I was gonna be in here until I died.

Drama! So, here's some more big news, I hit 520 reads today! OH YEAH!!! Keep reading, vote, comment, and stay awesome. Luvs u :3