Diedre did not want to calm down. Her handlers actually thought they could bribe her with food and whatever this prison is that they are trying to fool her with. Food? Seriously? While yes, she was hungry, did they really think that would distract her from the fact they’d dragged her from her only home and locked her in this? This? She didn’t even know what to call it.

It was a large space with vegetation and a pond of some sort. But not like a natural pond. Definitely a pool constructed of some sort of rock or cement and then vegetation placed on it to hide the bare, boring, flat surface. Effort was definitely taken to make it look “natural.” Diedre did not have to be a genius to see it was not even remotely a real pond. The water smelled off and she suspected the fish in there were placed in there for there was no place for them to come from or go to.

There were open areas with grass and some places cleared to sit. There was an alcove that she supposed was supposed to be a sleeping area? Maybe to get out of the rain? There was no roof beyond the sleeping area. There did seem to be some sort of netting high above the trees. Lots of plant life was trucked in to fill in the open space from low to the ground to the tallest trees. Diedre assumed it was to resemble her homeland.

Oh! She missed home! She lives — rather lived — in a beautiful part of the jungle. Lots of tall trees with trails you could get lost in. There was an actual, real pond that took very little time to reach. That is where she was when she was snatched up by a large group of men. She had been lounging in the shallows when she felt the bite of something in the back of her shoulder. When she grabbed at it, there was a cold metal barb sticking out of her shoulder. Very quickly, she started to feel faint and dizzy and as she was slumping over, she saw several men rushing toward her and dragging her out of her pond. She faintly remembered being thrown in the back of a truck, but she could just be filling in that part, because when she woke, she was in a truck in a cage.

Scared and confused, she tried to communicate with her captors, but they seemed unable to understand her. They spoke in a language she had not heard before. She probably should have kept her cool, but Diedre had never been one to really shy from a little bit of force. Of course, the cage they put her in was definitely too strong for her. She knew it every before she started shaking the door of it. The men seemed to be amused at her attempts, which only infuriated her more.

Then, to make matters worse, they shot her with the dart again while she was still in the cage. She assumed that was when they transported her out of the truck to this ridiculous enclosure. Well, if they thought she was angry in the cage, they probably should not have given her a place with more improvised weapons available. Should any of them dare enter this pathetic place she will be sure to have a heavy rock in hand.

Where she could go, she had no idea. Diedre could not even fathom if she were even close to her home. It did not look like it. She had climbed to the highest point of this space they gave her, but her view was blocked. Some sort of prison. Cement walls everywhere.

Diedre’s thoughts were interrupted by a grating and jarring sound coming from the other side of the pond. What had seemed like a wall started to move to the side. She grabbed a rock, expecting a doorway to appear, only to be dismayed by the chain link fencing revealed. Fencing going 20 feet up in the air with a netting from the top to beyond where she could see.

Through the fencing she saw more people gathering and walking past her enclosure. She called for attention, and got it, with many people gathering at the fence’s edge, pointing and speaking excitedly. Would they help her? Would they free her? Diedre was disappointed to see people stop to look and appear to actually be happy to see her. Then they would walk on. Not a single one helping.

She finally moved to the perimeter of the fencing to see where the people walked off to. As far as she could see were enclosures just like hers, filled with all the animals she used to encounter in her jungle. All looking back at Diedre, mirroring her outrage, her frustration, and her sadness.