Captive

Segun sat in the boat’s wet, damp darkness with his six-foot and seven-inch frame scrunched in the tight cramp space. He needed to escape. Segun pretended to be asleep as a pale man with curly black hair descended on the steps from the deck with a massive tiger in tow. Sweat droplets ran down his forehead as his captive stopped in front of him. The tiger bared his sharp teeth and blew his firey breath into Segun’s face forcing him to awaken from his faux sleep. “Get up, boy,” the man said as he stood with the tiger. Segun sat still, peering into the eyes of the man with pure defiance. The man’s voice exploded, “I said get up, boy!” The tiger sneered at Segun causing his stomach to drop, yet he still did not stir. He sat idle as the tiger’s golden eyes pierced into his deep brown eyes as if he knew all of Segun’s deepest secrets. The man with the curly black hair lifted a crowbar above his head and quickly brought it down upon Segun.

Then, there was darkness.

Segun awoke in a room surrounded by white walls, white marble floors, and two windows with white curtains. He sat in the center, placed within a cage. Although he had no memory of the events that brought him here, he grabbed the bars of the cage. He began screaming hysterically, pleading for his freedom. A pale man with golden hair and green eyes entered the room. “Here, boy,” he said as he placed a banana through the bars of the cage. Segun gratefully gnawed on the banana while examining the ring of keys hanging from the man’s pocket.