No Escape

I don’t know where I am. I don’t know what is happening. As I move towards the end of the room, there is no escape. The only thing in my view is a small window that I can barely see through. All I see is a bird flying around. To me, it looks like a barn owl. I don’t know why that is the first thing I can think of.

Suddenly, I hear the doorknob rattle. It’s hard for me to be scared since I am confused about what is happening. I don’t know what to expect at this point. I look around and see that my left ankle is chained to the floor.

A man is standing almost seven feet tall walks into the room. He is wearing overalls and a long shirt that has stains on it. He has curly brown hair. He had a tray with food, and he was watching my every move.

“Wakey Wakey. I brought you food.” The gentleman said. I looked away, not saying a word. The tray only had toast. It just made me less hungry.

“You are not going to say you’re welcome after I brought you food?”

I continue to look away, still keeping my words to myself. I don’t know what to say. I don’t understand what happened. “Who are you? Why am I here?

The man smirked as I finished the question. “The typical question everyone asks right away. I don’t blame you, but I am not that type of guy. I need to get to know you, and you need to know me. Before explaining my reasoning. So eat or don’t.”

The man walked away and closed the door leaving me the toast. The more I tried to move, the more I felt pain. I noticed scares that I had never seen before. I started to scream.

The man walked in and said, “Let me guess, you found your new mark?”

I looked and noticed a weird silhouette on the side of my ribs. “What did you do to me?”

“Don’t you know what it is?” He said as he paused dramatically. “It’s an owl. A Barn owl.” Do you know why an owl?”

“Why?” I asked, trying to figure out why I had this animal branded to my side.

He grabbed the chair and sat next to me as he fiddles with something in his hands. He moves the tray that was sitting on the floor. He smirks, then shows disappointment. “You know owls are underrated. They are known for being wise, but do you know what else?”

“What else?”

“What makes them wise is how they survive and how they attack. They hunt low and in open spaces so no one can attack them. If you haven’t noticed, I am in an open field far away from where no one will find you.” He stopped to look out the window. I took a deep breath, and then he continued. “That mark symbolized that you have been hunted. I am the predator, and you are my prey.”

“What did I even do?” I yelled as tears started running down my face.

“You don’t remember?” He aggressively asked

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I said as I was trying to break from the chains.

“One thing I hate is bullying. It shouldn’t matter about our financial status or what we wear. If we did nothing to you, leave us alone.”

“I am not sure what you are talking about.”

“Fifteen years ago, you and your friends teased me at school. Pour milk on me during lunch, made fun of how I talked, and made fun of my family. It broke my family up. I blamed you all for my life falling apart. So for years, I planned to seek revenge. It wasn’t until I studied the Barn owl and knew what I had to do. Sadly, for you, you are the last one that I need revenge on.”

He was about to continue to speak; I realized who it was. “Mike? This is not how you solve this. Fifteen years ago, I was young and reckless and didn’t know any better.”

“It is too late. It is time for you to pay for what you did to me.” Mike said as he came closer to me.

I started to scream and gasp as I tried to defend myself. Everything started to fade away, and I was losing sight of everything. Then I heard something.

“James! Wake up! Wake up!”

I jumped up as sweat dripped from my brow. “James, are you okay?” My wife asked as she started to sit up.

“I had a bad dream that felt so real,” I responded as I wiped the sweat off and made my way to the sink in the bathroom.

“With everything you’ve been through, the bad dreams are going to be normal. You have to fight it and remember you are alive.”

“I’m alive?” I thought to myself. I looked in the mirror and saw what I didn’t want to see. I looked down and saw that owl silhouette that was in my dreams.