Are you listening?

Day 2: “are you listening”

It was dark out. Pitch black almost. I could hardly see my own hands in front of me. And the woods seems to close in further over my head. I felt the branches looming over me and the fast underbelly of the forest expanding over miles and miles. I could hear small creatures scuttling across dried leaves and distant calls of foxes to their kits. I knew what it was, but it still sounded like screams to me. Violent and tormented.

“Are you even listening to me?” Miranda broke my focus with a whisper and I realized she’d been talking this whole time. We sat shoulder to shoulder leaning against the damp earthen walls of the pit.

“It’s been 2 days” she said shakily. “We’re running low on water. Lena I’m scared.” I could tell she wanted to cry, but we had already passed that.

“He’s never left us down here this long before!” She continued, running her frail hands up and down her thighs. I heard them brushing softly agains her jeans.

I was listening. Just not to her.

“Sorry. I know.”

“What if he got caught? And he’s in prison now and no one will ever come for us?! I never thought I’d actually be wishing for him to show up.”

I had considered this. I had no idea how far out in the woods we were. I had counted since we left the cabin to get to the pit. 43 and a half minutes. It was a long time. And we had been blindfolded. I tried to listen to the sounds of where we were but the ATV drowned out anything helpful. I knew there was some sort of path and I knew it took between 42 to 44 minutes to get there every time. I’d been in the pit enough times to have that memorized but that was it.

I stayed quiet as I went back to jamming my fingers into the dirt. Trying to make slots sturdy enough so we could climb out. Miranda’s ankle was broken from the fall into the pit so getting her out would be more challenging. I new she was in pain and hiding it as best she could. But every so often when she’d switch position I’d hear her grown in agony. I made a mental reminder to check the bandage id made from my shirt in the morning when the sun rose and I could see again.

“Tell me the first thing you want to eat when we get out of here.” Though after 348 days I was pretty doubtful that would ever happen. But it was still Miranda’s first month so the conversations helped her. I remember when they used to help me.

“A big juicy burger. With home fries on the side and extra pickles.” I smiled at this. Thinking of Miranda, with her slender ballerina like physique, eating a huge burger. Ketchup on the side of her mouth.

“What about you?” She seemed timid to ask, knowing how long I’d been here.

I ran my fingers along the scars on my leg. One for each day. Except there were two missing since I’d been in the pit. Normally he marked us every day. His sick way of saying he owned us and always letting us know for how long.

There was only one other here longer than me. Loraine. She’d been here for 456 days. I’d heard of the girls before her. Some he’d gotten tired of I guess. Others killed themselves. No one had ever escaped. Eventually we all caught on, but whenever new girls came in we pretended to still have hope. For their sakes.

“Lobster ravioli” I told her.

“Oh! I know the best place!” She said excitedly. And started going on and on about this amazing restaurant outside of the city.

I continued on my digging. Barely listening to her. But still listening for changes in the forest. Listening for him.