How do you call this place?

I open my eyes to find myself at a strange new place; I feel that the place was trying hard to match my own place, but it failed.

The last thing I remember was few men were chasing me. I ran thinking even at their best they could never come closer to me. Suddenly then, I felt a strong impact in my leg followed by a piercing pain along my skin and flesh. That part was neatly covered with some white material now.

As my vision getting clearer, I look up to see someone standing in front of me with plain eyes, he gauging me.

“Why, why did you bring me her?” I ask furiously.

He just spared a reckless smile, then a concerning stare. After few more moments of thoughtful silence he say “I have not brought you; in fact, I was also brought here in the very same manner”

“Who did this? What they want from ME? us? I don’t know about you, I have no reason that they could do this to me. May be they are mistaken me for somebody else” I speak hastily.

“Hi, I am Leonard. You can call me Leo” he displays an introduction gesture totally ignoring my questions.

I react and speak nothing, not even my name. I am okay being a stranger to someone like him.

He understood that I am silently demanding for an answer to my questions. He starts to speak: “Your questions are irrelevant now and they least bother about these. All I can say is you needless to worry here”

“Who brought me here” I ask at irritating high pitch “Please” I plead to nullify that.

“Well, what I can say about them. I can say they were, are one among us…” he confuses me than answering my questions.

“Can you be clear, specific?”

“These people are none but well known to us. They were our neighbors once upon a time. In fact we all were happy and living together. We ate. We lived. We enjoyed almost in similar way. On an odd day, something strange happened. They started to believe they are superior than rest of us, and they started to behave one. They felt that there can be more better way of living, eating or enjoying. They started digging to invent and discover for that better way - they took their course - altered their way of living - kept on altering or how they call evolving - eventually they moved far and ahead of us in many ways - yet still in search of that better_better…” he continue his boring clarification, which not even remotely in my understanding.

“I want to go. To my place. Now” I say what all I want now.

“You needless to worry here” he said in a pacifying tone “In fact life will be better here. At least they convince you to believe so in due course. You already have a job in hand now”

“Job? What is that? What kind?” I ask as I never heard of this earlier.

“It’s simple. Your job is to be here, as they want you to be and behave. People come to here to see us. They click pictures of us. Some may even try showing their verbal heroism.” He explain.

Too many questions cropping inside my head as he speaks.

He continues his brief “As of now, they expect you to get used to this place. My piece of suggestion sooner the better. I took little longer than others, only to regret later, the comfort I am in now.

You will get your food on time. Your medicals shall be taken care. It doesn’t end there; at when they consider right time, they will find you a wife, if you delay to choose on your own. Then kids. Your life is set bro. You are SETTLED...”

“And?”

“And what else? When you are done with your life, they will bury or burn your body. RIP. May be your name get a chance to appear in obituary column of local news paper in smallest possible font; but I can’t guarantee that. Okay”

Now I start to kind of understanding what all he was telling me until now. To clarify, just to clarify, I ask him “So you are telling me all I have to do is merely to live, that too as how someone else determined how I have to be and when to do what. My rest of the life will be wasted to pose as a lion in this place, without being one or without showing any ability of what I, a lion could actually do. As the reward for all these is I can be comfortable with all these discomforts”

“That’s sarcastic” he reply in an acknowledging tone “One of the important trait you need to be here”

I ignore his appreciation and ask “How do you call this place?”

“A zoo”

---

~ ஜ

 

Thanks @ll,

Fo reading & sparing your time for comment and appreciation.