The Family (VOL. 1)

Chapter 5

I wasn't exactly sure how long it had been. Maybe a week or two? Our routine was the exact same every day. Bubba visited me sometime in the afternoon and we worked for an hour or so before he went back to wherever he came from in the first place. He was making decent progress, I was able to understand him better with the simple sentences he's already learned to sign.

A low roar echoed out from my stomach reminding me that I hadn't had a full meal in days. Hunger gnawed at my insides, burning like someone had lit my belly on fire. Clutching myself, I curled into a ball and waited until the wave of nausea passed. I only hopeed Bubba wasn't too much longer. Every now and then he'd bring me something to eat like a stale piece of bread and a cup of water. It's wasn't much, nor was it very appetising, but it was better than nothing and at that point, I could've eaten just about anything.

Lazily sprawled out in the bed of hay that covering the floor, I stared up at the ceiling. Tiny beams of sunlight trickled in from holes in the roof and bounced across my fingers as I danced them in and out of the golden rays. Sometimes at night, when the moon was bright, I almost felt like I was looking up at the stars.

Once again, that same familiar creak of the barn door opening filled my ears followed by shuffling footsteps moving across the floorboards. 'Finally!' I had thought to myself. 'That must be Bubba ready for his daily lesson.'

The bright flash of white light and whirring hiss that rang out made me nearly jump out of my skin. With a startled gasp I sprang up and caught sight of Nubbins with his hand held out awaiting the polaroid camera around his neck to finish spitting out a small square photo. I wasn't expecting Nubbins to be there, I hadn't even seen him since he locked me in that darn cage.

He shook the photograph for a couple of seconds to develop the picture then turning it over, he grinned from ear to ear and laughed when the subject became clear. Woah, getta load of that," He slapped the photo against the door. "Turned out real nice! It-It's a nice picture!"

"Yeah, sure..." I agreed with a nod even though from what I could see it was too blurry to make out. "Have you come to let me out of here or just take my picture?"

He said nothing and folded the photograph up, tucking it into a small brown fur pouch hanging around his neck. Nubbins was a strange character, not as menacing as his brother and yet nowhere near as normal looking his mother; he was something all his own. The sweat and dirt stained green t-shirt and khakis he donned hung loosely on his rangy frame and his shaggy brown hair hung to his shoulders in greasy tangled strands. He had an odd taste in jewelry too. I caught sight of a thin silver chain around his wrist threaded through oddly shaped pieces of...something.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my mind. A genius idea I wasn't so sure but at least I had a plan! I couldn't convince Bubba to let me out but I wonder if I could convince him to...

"Hey, uh, can I get a look at that photo again? It really was a good picture, probably the best anyone's ever taken of me."

The compliment made his face light up and he eagerly shoved his hand into his pouch and pulled the folded photo out. "They're always good. P-People pay me for ma pictures!" He pressed the photo against the fencing and I pretended to move closer to get a better look. 

"I can see why! You've really got an eye for photography." I lied, and before he could have realized what I was up to, I crammed my fingers through the fencing, grabbed the corner of the photo, and snatched it out of his hand.

His smile quickly flipped into a frown. "H-Hey! No freebies! Give it back, ya thievin' b!t*h!"

"No can do! It's a photo of me that you took without my permission so I'm keeping it!"