The Cage - Chapter Four

There was a knock on the door. John didn’t hear the knock at first because he had fallen asleep. He didn’t realize how tired he was until he sat down. The sofa was as comfortable to him as the bed was and slumber overtook him. Now he was startled to consciousness.

He opened the door to see that the woman who had come to welcome him earlier was back. She was wearing blue jeans and regular shoes. She had a t-shirt on which seemed a size too big. John was sure he had seen her somewhere before. There was something familiar about her but what it was eluded him.

“I thought maybe we could” She paused for a moment as if she had forgotten what the next word was supposed to be, but she recovered quickly, “hangout”. Her voice sounded innocent, there was no pretense in it or hint of obligation. The way she spoke seemed familiar to John, but he still couldn’t place what it was that he recognized.

“Please come in” John responded and moved to one side to let the women enter. She entered the room and looked around. When she saw the TV, she got excited.

“Let’s watch something on TV, you pick” She said barely containing her enthusiasm.

The whole thing seemed odd to John, but he had to play along because he wanted to find out what was going on and this women was the only person who might be able to tell him. He turned on the TV and this time the football game was back on.

The woman studied the action on the screen. “Is this some kind of game?” she asked.

“Its football” John answered.

“How is this game played?”

John tried to explain how to play football. With each explanation, the woman had another question. Finally she said, “I would like to see more of this game.”

John sat down on the sofa. The woman curled up next to him and put her head on his shoulder. He looked at her a bit surprised but nothing she did seemed forced or out of character, whatever that was. As they sat and watched the game on TV, John finally realized what the woman had reminded him of. The woman sat next to him in the same way that his little girl back home would sit next to him when they would watch something together on TV. She would put her little head on his shoulder and he would put his arm around her and she would smile. John put his arm around the woman and she smiled without looking at him. She seemed content. Although she looked like a woman, John had the realization that he was dealing with a child.

Chapter Three - https://theprose.com/post/216573/the-cage-chapter-three

Chapter Two - https://theprose.com/post/215820/the-cage-chapter-two

Chapter One - https://theprose.com/post/215061/the-cage-chapter-one