Day 1
As a history professor, it’s a good thing that I have this notebook. Some bitch took us. I knew about the rampant anti-tiny assholes due to Chicago’s shitty lack of regulations, but this bitch. Really? She would take a whole family? John is comforting the kids now, that was always his thing...I don’t know what to do…
Day 3
It’s been three days in this cage. Honestly, I think she forgot about us. I had my oldest, William read Percy Jackson a while ago. He told me that this reminds him of when Percy and his friends were captured by the Cyclops, Polyphemus. I was proud he remembered the monster’s name.
Day 6
She came by today and took Luke. With the flick of her finger, she pushed John back while taking Luke with her other hand. I couldn’t stop screaming. William tried to save his younger brother too, but she blew him down and snickered to herself, closing the cage. I hope that William was wrong about what monster she was.
Edit
She gave us a little bit of water later and some crackers. She called it a trade. I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep tonight.
Day 8
John isn’t doing so well. William is trying to make him feel better. Luke hasn’t come back. A trade is a trade. She gave us food and water. We lost Luke. Fuck this bitch.
Day 11
I heard fighting downstairs, the others are asleep. It’s not Miranda, the girl. I learned it after a while. The yelling is probably her parents. Wait, I can hear her running up the stairs.
Day 12
She doesn’t come by often. Sometimes she looks over from her desk at her laptop and smirks at us. William shouts at her to no response. John doesn’t talk much anymore. I hope he hasn’t lost hope. Though...it’s not like I can blame him
Day 15
More shouting downstairs. Something about...I don’t know, I can’t understand it clearly. The door just slammed. The oh-so-familiar sound of footfalls is back. Miranda’s coming back.
Day 22
I gave the rest of the crackers to Will. John refuses to eat.
Day 24
I wonder where Luke is right now. Heaven? Hell? I really like the idea that he is frolicking around in Greece’s Elysium or in God’s kingdom. Rest in peace, Luke.
Day 25
Today was different. Miranda immediately ran to our cage after she got back from what I presume to be school, college to be more specific. She came to our cage and punched it at full force after slamming the door shut.
“Pathetic bitch.”
I’m tending to John but his arm got fucked up pretty badly. William got a bruise on his head and I have a few myself but thankfully John snapped out of the trance-like state he’d adopted recently to take much more of the force. I’m thankful...but maybe it would’ve been better to stay that way. I don’t know if I can stay sane myself if something were to happen to either of them.
Day 26
Miranda was wearing a bandage on her hand today.
Day 28
The bruise on William’s head looked pretty big. John has managed to cope with his broken arm but I don’t know how much of a front it is. He screams at night, knowing that Miranda won’t hear him anyway. I do.
Day 29
I heard the city bus that Miranda takes pull up to the bus stop nearby. I knew she would be coming but before she came in there was more shouting. One voice was Miranda’s, the other was what I assumed to be the father. I tried to listen but I still couldn’t understand. Miranda shut up. The door slammed shut. Miranda didn’t come.
Day 33
Miranda still hasn’t come back. The room stays the same. John keeps screaming at night, William seems to be less and less active, but I don’t know if that’s just me imagining things. He’s definitely resting more. I guess we all need it. I’m tired too.
Day 34
The fast-paced thudding of shoes running up the staircase awoke me. John and William were still sleeping. Good for them, they needed the rest. Anyhow, the door opened and there was Miranda. Her usually punked out black hair had been replaced with a greasy bed-head and she was wearing the same clothes as she was the morning I saw her last. She grabbed a backpack and began stuffing it with various belongings. She moved with the speed and grace of...I don’t know, I can’t think of any legend right now. Hermes? She started to leave, but then the gleam of the rising sun reflecting off our cage must have caught her eye.
“I guess I can’t just leave my worthless bitch to die here. I might just need some bitch to get me a beer sometime.”
She grabbed our cage and bolted out. “Get her a beer?”
Day 35
The change of scenery was interesting. Miranda had brought us to an abandoned storage unit, her new “home”, presumably. Random blankets were formed as a bed and her light came from a self-made fireplace, fueled by various kindling. A broken HVAC pipe was used to direct the smoke out. This girl was surprisingly smart. She couldn’t be any more than 20 and this is where she was? I hate her but...this was just painful to watch.
“Here, I’m in charge, bugs. I hope you enjoy Castle Miranda cause if you don’t then your Queen will have to punish you. Just like I did last time.”
She held up the cage and opened her mouth for us to see. Her breath was terrible. Her pulsating tongue was covered in grime and saliva. William didn’t bother to react. John started yelling obscenities. All I could look at though was her eye. The black eye. The same eye where the trick of the flame almost showed the watery mirage of a tear.
Day 37
She’s been paying more attention to us lately. I guess she can afford it given that her time was freed up. She keeps humiliating us, calling us bugs and whatever, making fun of Luke’s death. I shout back to no avail. Only tears to show for it all.
Day 39
William died.
Day 41
William died from that bruise on his head, internal bleeding I think. This bitch deserves to die. Yesterday Miranda noticed his dead body and plucked it out of the cage.
“Pathetic bitch died, huh? Well, I guess he can be of some use to me.”
She took him and held him by his leg. Dangling him over her open mouth she gave a glance to John and me and dropped him. She gulped him down, whole.
“Mmm. I will say, this was much less messy than the other one.”
I hate her so much. I want to kill her myself. But...she looked so satisfied. So peaceful. Rest in peace, William.
Day 42
“Castle Miranda” is nothing like Hades’ Underworld. It’s worse. John’s gone silent again. Today she had us “worship” her. She seized me and John and took off her disgusting shoes. Her feet smelled so bad, I almost passed out.
“Lick, bugs.”
I wasn’t going to disobey. I started licking this girl’s feet and it tasted like she hadn’t showered in days, which she hadn’t. It was worse for John. He didn’t do...anything. He didn’t react, he didn’t even look in her direction.
“So the bug doesn’t even listen to his Goddess?” She asked angrily. She plucked him up, against my protests, and looked at him with her immense, giant, baggy eyes.
“So you’re not going to listen to me either? You don’t respect me, huh? You don’t respect me even though I am your Goddess?”
John gave no reaction. I screamed for her to let him go but she pinned her grimy foot over my body, allowing me to see only through her steamy toes.
“No respect...it’s always the same. You’re always so much more important than me. That’s what you all do.” Her voice began to falter. Why?
“Fine then motherfucker. I’ll make you clean my divine body myself if I have to. You will make a good rag.” She looked back down at me. “This is what happens when you don’t respect me.” She stripped down to nothing revealing a frighteningly skinny body. I could only watch in horror as she used my John as nothing but a “rag” to wipe herself down. She dragged him across her body, using his empty body to “clean” her legs, her armpits, even going so far as to wipe her ass with John. My John. I could only cry. Apparently, that was one thing that I and Miranda had in common.
Day 44
John killed himself. I was asleep. I woke up naked and cold. I wanted to hold him tight, but his body was as cold as I felt. As cold as Miranda. He used my clothes to choke himself. I guess he just wanted to see me naked one last time. Anytime John...anytime.
Day 45
Miranda ate him.
Day 47
A tribe in Africa has its own belief that the souls of the dead come and guide their living family members. I saw Luke today. He was smiling.
Day 48
Miranda left this morning. William says that she probably went to school. What a good boy, I love how optimistic Will is.
Day 50
We still haven’t seen Miranda yet. I wonder if she forgot about us.
Day 51
Food. I gave the last of my food to John again. I hope he eats it.
Day 52
Someone’s writing in my journal. John didn’t kill himself he’s right there. Right in front of me, telling the kids stories. Lovely stories.
Day 52
The boys went out to play, so it’s a nice day with John.
Day Day
John went to go get the boys, I guess they just got lost.
Miranda Day
Miranda’s back! It’s been SOOOO long!
“I’m back, bitch.”
I’m so happy, John and the boys will be so jealous.
* * *
Miranda was on empty. No food, no home, nothing. Just her little pet. Ha. Dumb bitch. Dumb little tiny bitch. She glared at her tiny joy in life.
“Wow. You look like shit.” Guess it takes one to know one.
The tiny was saying something but she didn’t know what; she could barely hear her. Hell, she could barely hear at all. She was hungry. Tired. Thirsty. She could take care of one of those things, however.
“Bug, come here.” God, her voice was barely passable. A tear came to her eye, it hurt to even speak.
She expected screams of protest, or for the tiny to run to the back of the damn birdcage. This tiny was definitely the fighter of the group, over the 1-2 months she had them. Wow, had it only been that long? It felt so long ago.
Surprisingly, the tiny actually came up to her. Odd. Was she...smiling? She couldn’t tell, things were getting faint.
“I’m going to eat you now, bitch. Just like the rest.”
Again, no reaction of fear, no opposition. Great. Miranda burst into tears. Fate wouldn’t even let her enjoy torturing the only thing below than her. Dirt. Tinies. Herself. What was the fucking difference?
“Ok then.” Unceremoniously she picked up the tiny and put it in her mouth. Well, half of it, she couldn’t be bothered to swallow them whole. She just bit down as fast as possible and stuffed the rest of the now gory mess into her mouth with the same vigor. She was warm. It felt good down her throat. Food.
Great. Food. Felt good. Time for a nap. Gotta rest up after a nice meal. Yeah, a nap sounds good. Miranda enjoyed a nap. And what a long nap it was.