Caged Like the Rat You Are

Caged Like the Rat You Are

     Richard rubbed the side of his head. “What happened to me?”

     As his eyes focused Richard could see that he was in a train storage section – in a smelly cage. “How did I get here?”

     “Why am I in a cage?” Richard tried to get up. Only his wobbly legs wouldn’t let him do it. He fell back down. Not only did he sit down hard, he banged his head against the bars of that cage.

     When he hit his head he tipped over – into that smell. Richard wrinkled his nose as he sat back up quickly. “There must have been a gorilla in here recently.”

     Richard looked at his hairy arms in a short sleeved shirt. Then at his even hairier legs under his shorts. “I know I have a lot of hair. But I don’t have that much of it though.”

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     “I still can’t remember how I got here – or why I am here.” Richard stood on wobbling legs leaning against the bars bouncing up and down shakily with the motion of that train.

     “I’ve been trying to remember what happened ever since I wake up a few hours ago, but I can’t.” Richard banged hard against the bars when the train suddenly stopped.

     “It can’t because I have started drinking again. I don’t smell like I been drinking. Of course, with the smell in here I could have and not even noticed it. That would explain why I can’t remember anything.”

     “I haven’t had a drink in almost twenty years.” Richard thought about that for a minute. “At least I hope I haven’t started drinking again.”

     Richard grabbed the bars quickly before he fell backwards again. “It’s not amnesia. I know who I am. What I don’t know is what’s going on.”

     Just then the door to that storage section opened up. Brenda walked in. “Are you the reason why I am here.”

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     Brenda sat in an old rickety chair in the corner of that room creaking every time she moved. “Why did you do this to me, Brenda?” Richard kept asking her.

     Finally, Brenda spoke. “It’s because you were going to run out on our wedding again. Only this time you weren’t going to wait until the day of it.”

     “What are you talking about. I’m not going to back out of anything.”

     “Then why did you buy a one-way ticket to Kansas City.” Brenda got up and walked over to the cage. Then flapped the ticket in front of him.

     “Because I got a promotion at work. I was going there to get settled in before I brought you out there.”

     “Why should I believe that. You have already walked out on me three weddings before this one.”

     “I don’t blame you for feeling that way. But I am telling you the truth. Just contact my manager. She will tell you I’m telling the truth.”

     Brenda thought about that for a minute. “Maybe I was wrong to jump to the wrong conclusions.”

     “Speaking of jumping, why did you put me in this cage? Why a train, and why can’t I remember any of it.”

     “The train is the only thing I could afford. Thanks to the wedding, that isn’t going to happen, I am in debt up to my perky little…”

     Richard interrupted her. “…The wedding is on as planned. We are still getting married. I just wanted to surprise you with this move to KC. But I guess I was wrong about that. That’s the only thing I was wrong about though.”

     “What if I don’t want to move back to Kansas City?” Branda asked as she started opening up that cage door.

     “You used to live Kansas City. And you still have family, and friends, in KC. I thought for sure that you would love the idea about moving back there.”

     “I do. You still should have told me about it first.” Brenda helped the wobbly Richard out of that cage.

     “Maybe I was wrong about that. I just wanted to surprise you. I’m the one who got surprised. By the way, I forgot to thank you for the train trip.”

     “I’m sorry about that. I guess I put too much in your food last night to knock you out.”

     “What exactly did you put in my food? Whatever it was didn’t just knock me out. It also made me forget what happened to me.”

     “You’re mad at me. Aren’t you?” Brenda almost lost her grip on Richard as she reached for the door handle of the door that was now closed.

     “Of course, I am angry with you. But some of it is my fault. So I guess I can’t be too mad at you.” After thinking about it for a few second Richard continued. “What I don’t understand is why you had them put in a cage.”

     “I thought you were going to leave me – again. If I had just put you on the train you could have left before I had the chance to get here. And talk you out of leaving me.”

     “Don’t you see. I had to do something to stop you.” Brenda continued after a few seconds. “Once I got here I knew I could talk you out of it. But I had to borrow some money from a friend of mine to get here. And she couldn’t get it to me until today. That’s why I put you in a cage.”

     Richard and Brenda barely got out that door between cars when the train started moving again. That’s when Richard pushed her off that train. His legs were no longer wobbling. She fell between the tracks. All Richard could hear was her screaming as the train ran over her.

     “You were right. I was moving to Kansas City without you. There was never going to be a wedding either. You are just too bossy – and pushy. It was about time that I pushed back.”