Animal instincts

“Can you hear me?”  

I feel weighed down like I’m under water.  I can hear you.  I want to open my eyes, but my eyelids are heavy. And I’m thirsty.  Thirsty like a day in the savanna in the dry season.

“I’m not sure he can hear me.”

I can hear you.  Why wouldn’t I be able to hear you?  I squeeze open my eyes and a blurry figure stands over me. I flinch and try to move but I can’t.  I’M TRAPPED. Now my eyes are open and I feel energized.  I twist and shake, but I can’t break free.  A balding man with a sweaty face and thinning hair backs away from me.

There is a growl that starts in my stomach and works its way into my chest.  I breath out a gassy sigh.

“Take it easy.  You’re okay,” he says. 

What’s going on?  My eyes racing back and forth; the only thing I can control. Bright light and whiteness are everywhere.

“Take it easy.  Here’s a snack to tide you over.”  The man in the white coat holds out a bowl with some food. Then drops a succulent piece of meat in my mouth.

My head begins to throb like it’s squeezed in the trunk of an elephant.  I rock my head back and forth but it feels too big. A sharp edge bites into my ear.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa…just relax.”  He fumbles with the bowl and drops it, spilling meat and juice across the cement floor.

Relax? I don’t think I’m the tense one here.  

The man stands in the mess while adjusting something on my head with both hands.  I’m feeling woozy again so I don’t resist.  The sharp pain eases, but the elephant grasp remains. I could use some…

“I COULD USE SOME.”  

What the?

“WHAT THE?”

Why can I hear myself think?

“WHY CAN I HEAR MYSELF THINK?”

The man in the white coat’s mouth opens and his eyes bulge out.  Saliva drips from his lower lip.  

“THAT’S DISGUSTING.”

“It works,” he said making more adjustments.

“WHAT WORKs?  What’s going on?”  My blaring thoughts become as quiet as a whisper, then level back to a normal level.

The man in the white coat scampers to the corner of the room then nearly falls as his heel slides in the juice. 

Regaining his balance he addresses a mirrored wall, ”Are you getting this?”

“What? Me?  Who are you talking to?”

He turns back toward me, and moves in slow motion.  His eyes, still bulging, look friendlier with a goofy full toothed smile.  With both of his hands up and palms facing me, he speaks like a parent to a toddler. “Hello Rex.  How are you?”

“I guess I’m okay.  I would’ve liked more of that meat, but you’ve mashed it into the floor.  I feel foggy though.”  I shake my head and try to get up, but then realize that I’m tied down. “Wait. What? WHATS GOING ON?”

“Easy…easy.” Eyes still bulging, the smile gone.  His pock marked face glistens.  I can smell his onion rich body odor.

“LET ME GO.”  I struggle but can’t free myself from the table. Thick leather straps hold me.  I wiggle and squirm to no avail, trying to get free.  I keep struggling for so long that I exhaust myself. I lay still in defeat, breathing heavily.

“If you’ve finished, I’ll come back in,” echoes a voice over a speaker in the empty room.  

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it.”

A door opens and the man in the white coat reappears.  “I’ll be okay,” he said to someone that I couldn’t see.

“Who’s that?”

“Don’t worry about them.  I’m hear to talk to you.”

He has another plate of meat and he holds up a piece.  “Here’s some steak.  I’ll give it to you if you settle down .”

My tongue hangs out of my mouth, dripping with saliva.  He drops the meat in and steps back.

“Rex, I’m so glad you’ve relaxed.  This is incredible.  I know this is confusing, but this is history.  We can hear your thoughts.”

“I heard. More meat.”  He drops more meat in my mouth.

“You are the first animal to communicate with words. Gorillas sign and parrots speak, but this is different.”

“So you have me strapped down to talk?  More meat!  And release me!”

“I don’t even know where to start.  But I can’t release you.  I mean, you ARE a lion.”

“A  L-I-O-N?  Are you a L-I-O-N?”

“No. I’m a man.  Do you know what a lion is?  Do you know anything?  I’m sorry but it’s incredible that this works.  I’d explain it to you, but …” He takes a step back and that odor returns. “You’re primal.”

“I may be a L-I-O-N, but I only know what I know.  How could I know anything more than what I’ve lived?”

“Amazing.”  

“You know what would be amazing? Loosen this neck strap!”

“I don’t think so .  That’s for my protection.”

“Protection?  Did I get protection from my father who beat me just for showing potential?  I grow strong and he puts me down.”

The man in the white coat tilts his head and stared at me.  “Wow, we really aren’t that different, are we?”  He approaches slowly with his palms facing me again.  “I’ll tell you what.  You show me a little trust, and I’ll show you a little trust. Okay?”  

“Meat.”  He tosses me another piece.

“You roamed the jungle hunting, and exhibited a ferocious air in our cage. Yet, somehow you seem civil.”

“I lived how I lived then, but I’m different now.”

“That’s reasonable.  It’s my contention that animals are capable of higher thinking, but survival requires energy diverted towards more primal functions.  I’ve exposed your brain and attached electrodes.”

“I’ve done my part.  Loosen the harness.”

He reaches over and unlocks the neck restraint.  I grab his arm in my mouth and pull him towards me in one quick motion.  I can see those bulging eyes.  I take a giant bite from his neck.  A blaring siren blasts and the room fills with smoke.

I awake as hazy as before.  What is going on here?  No echo.  Looks like they turned off that word machine.

“Rex. Can you hear me?”  

I shake my head trying to get my bearings.

“Rex, do you know where you are?”  I open my eyes and a lady in a white coat is standing over me.

Unable to speak, I nod my head.

“I’m sure you’re a little confused.  I’m Dr. Coyle.  I wanted to check in with you after the surgery.  Do you remember being rushed into surgery?  You were quite dehydrated and in a sorry state.”

I can only manage to stare at her as my head is pounding.

“You had a fall and there was pressure on your brain from the bleeding.  We had to relieve that pressure, and that was successful.  There was a complication though.  Can you tell me why you did that to Dr. Roberts?  You know what you did, don’t you?”

I roared and smiled to show her my teeth.  I think she gets the point that I’m a lion, and that’s what we do.

“That’s a terrible thing you did, Rex.  You know that’s wrong.”  She looks at me like I wasn’t inside my own head.  “You do know that was wrong, don’t you?“

A rumble starts in my stomach.  I’m hungry and ready to eat. I show her my teeth again and growl out another roar.

“This is nothing to joke about, and I’m worried you don’t even know who you are.”  She turns to another woman and asks, “can you get me a mirror?”

“I’m worried the surgery may have affected your self awareness.  I want you to look at yourself and remember who you are.”  She takes a mirror from the nurse and turns it toward me.

I shake awake, sweating from my dream.  Tears fill my eyes from the stress.  As I begin to focus, I hear, “Get a tranquilizer dart!  He’s waking up.”