Captivated

The birds were chirping when she woke up. A cool breeze greeted her as she walked towards the balcony. 'Such a beautiful day', she thought.

Someone knocked at the door twice and then entered the room."Good morning Gloria! You look beautiful today. Here's your morning coffee. I'll check on you in a few hours."

Gloria watched the maid leave the room, and took a sip from the cup of coffee. She sat down on her desk and switched on her phone.

'576 likes! Wow! People really like my photography', she exclaims, feeling proud of the picture of the rainbow she took the previous day.

She browsed through her schedule for the day, and then switched to her laptop. Suddenly her screen glowed, showing a face time call from her bestie Hannah.

Gloria : Hey Hannah!
Hannah : Hey girl! What's up?
Gloria : Nothing much, just a busy schedule.
Hannah : Aw... Well good luck with your work!
Gloria : What is that makeup for though?
Hannah : Oh haha, I'm hanging out with Christine and Chloe today.
Gloria : Aww, wish I be there with y'all.
Hannah : Well, you sure are getting amazing views of nature and that glass House of yours.

Hannah looks pensive for a moment, but then she returns to the call with a smile.

Gloria : Well, have fun, I gotta go now.
Hannah : Oh okay, bye! Love you
Gloria : Love you too

She hangs up and gets back to work.

True, her house was one of a kind. Roofs and balcony walls replaced with one sided glass, it looked like a live art gallery. One could see birds flying outside, right through her bedroom wall. Gloria had discovered this house a few years ago. It seemed to have been abandoned for a long time.

But, she wasn't happy living in this house. "That is a dream house for every nature lover!" her followers would comment on her pictures, but it wasn't the same with Gloria. She didn't want to stay in a glass House for the rest of her life. She wanted to travel around the world. She wanted to hug the people she loved. She wanted to be free and happy...

She sat on her bed, and captured a picture of the beautiful sunset. She posted it on instagram, with the caption : 'A sunset through the glass jar...' Immediately she started recieving likes and comments.

"More like, glass palace" someone commented. But nobody knew what it felt like, being trapped in that glass palace, with no way out... every external door leading to darkness. She tried escaping the house, planning new strategies, bringing up new ideas. But she couldn't escape. It's the 10th year she's been trapped in that glass jar. Or was it really a glass jar..?

She's been completing assignments everyday, for the mad scientist who wanted to test human's behaviour to an alternate reality, stimulated by the digital walls of the lab, which Gloria refers to as glass Jar.

"Gloria! I hope you will give me what I want today. You know the drill, I'll ask you the question. Answer honestly...

Do you like being here?"the mad scientist spoke through the speakers.

Gloria knew that if she said yes, he would bring in more people. She didn't want others to suffer like her. She didn't want others to be trapped. So she answered, "No!"

The laughter of the scientist echoed through the halls. "Well then, you can resume you life inside this glass jar. Have fun!"

-×-
-Hrishi