cry me a river

CRY ME A RIVER

I awoke with a faint cry as was the norm, my body all tensed up as I waited for a stomach refill from the best pacifier known to man. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Could it be? I stretched out my arms in a bid to grab onto something, anything. I got nothing. My eyelids flew open.

The white washed walls with its four-legged creatures of various sizes and colours sent a strong signal to my brain. I sat up. A quick scan of my surroundings confirmed my thoughts. Nene’s gone. Again. My gaze flew to the door and sure enough, the bolt was in place with the same sour-faced warden seated right next to it. My wait has begun. I let out a piercing scream.

“O good! You’re awake”

As if by magic, a rotund figure dressed in a plain blue gown appeared right in front of me. I gulped. My earlier loud bawling now turned into low, pitiful whimpering. She bent forward and peered intently into my face like an astronomer puzzled at the appearance of a new star in the sky. I stared back. One by one, she pried my fingers away from the bars of my cage all the time muttering some strange funny sounds to me.

Soon, I was air bound, fiercely defying the law of gravity. I snuggled closer to the warmth of her embrace but that only brought the memories of Nene flooding back. The tears flowed freely. True, it was my second time here and it was only a few hours wait but still, the pain of abandonment sat lodged in my chest, robbing me of all my senses. Nene’s gone. Nene left me. How could she leave me all alone? Why?

Suddenly, I realized that I was in a compromising position. What if Nene walked in right now and saw us? I pushed back. My captor would have none of it as she pulled me in tighter. I pushed back again. She pulled me in again. It was a war of weight. Our vocal cords were the most hit because they were working overtime; hers producing incoherent words mixed with funny sounds and mine, doing what it knows how to do best: screaming.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the warden move towards us. She had in her hands a transparent container filled with white liquid which she handed over to my captor. The later quickly placed me across the knees and pushed it into my wide-opened mouth. I struggled at first but then gave up the fight. I became calm. Suck suck suck What is this? Suck suck suck It tastes really good. Suck suck suck Almost as good as Nene’s Suck suck suck But Nene…

I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up I was back in my cage with the wooden bars. I propped myself on my elbows and tried to get into a sitting position, but the discomfort I felt down below screamed at me. I was wet. And soiled. I started up my anthem. My captor appeared again, out of the blue, but I was less mystified and rather focused on getting rid of the substance stuck beneath my denims.

“Naughty, naughty” she chided

As she cleaned me up, my mind flew back to Nene. The wait was killing me. How much time has passed? And how much more was left? I had no idea. I stared at the big circular shape on the adjacent wall. There was one exactly like it back at our apartment and Nene loves staring at it. I looked at it now. Expectant. Waiting. Nothing happened. My captor’s smiling face came into my view, I turned my head sideways. There it was again but now she dangled a shiny round object in front of me. I grabbed it.

It was similar to the one Nene adorned on her wrist every so often but this one had little rings connected to a larger circle and goes ‘Klonk, Klonk! Klonk!’ whenever I shake it. Left. Right. Up. Down. I was having the fun of my life. Intrigued by the sound produced by my new distraction, I immersed myself in it for awhile.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream rented through the air and I watched as my captor walked over to a fellow prisoner in a cage beside me and tried to subdue him. Terrified, I sat up. I had a huge reawakening at that moment and it was then I looked around. We were about a dozen in here; half were either sleeping or playing while the other half were getting brainwashed by the sound box located at the other end of the room.

I joined in the veiled protest albeit to the dismay of my captor, and two other companions who had been asleep, awoke and jumped on the bandwagon without a second thought. It was hell. The whole place was in disarray. The warden left her position at the door and moved towards the two new offenders while my captor added me to her list. I was juggled alongside the initial culprit. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Till my eyelids was forced to obey gravity.

A strange voice registered in my subconscious. No. Strange voices. I woke up. Two of my companions were being released at that moment and a third one squealed in delight upon sighting her guardian. I watched the door expectantly. Nothing. No sign of Nene. I became anxious. Sensing my discomfort, my captor approached with arms outstretched, I squirmed away. Nonetheless, she picked me up as if I weighed no more than a hot-air balloon and sat me across her knee. Instinct took over just in time and I sent the liquid-filled container flying right across the room.

“What! Jimmy! How could you?”

I turned towards the door. Nene walked in and all the resentment I felt towards her for abandoning me and causing me to wait for her for hours walked out of the room. I squealed in delight. My captor had already let go of me and I crawled towards her as fast as my tiny legs could carry me. She met me halfway and lifted me into a warm embrace. My heart did a flip-flop.

“How’s my little boy doing?...But that wasn’t very nice Jimmy. Now tell Nanny you’re sorry”

 “Not to bother Mrs. Andrew.” My captor said, looking me up and down. I held on tighter to my mother “Jimmy is a handful, but don’t worry with time, he would adjust, right Jimmy? See you tomorrow”

I could only glare at her and pray tomorrow never comes.