"Dead"

By: Anaisha Shah

TW: Entrapment

I was stuck, I was trapped. I screamt, I shouted, I banged, nothing moved, nothing changed. I was trapped in the dark soul of a tiger. I could control its body and move around on my command. I was trapped, deep inside the soul of a trapped tiger in the zoo. I didn’t know what was happening, it was all dark and blurry. I thought that being a ‘tiger’ was my second life, and somehow I had died and become trapped in it. Everyday I woke up, it was dark and miserable... People often came to visit my cage, young kids and their parents. I would growl at them, and they would just run away, screaming. No one would understand me, I wasn’t trying to scare them away, I was pleading for help with the softest and most gentle voice I could muster. Day after day, I would repeat this, desperate for help. Zoo inspectors grew worried that I would drive away all the children and make the zoo a vulnerable place. They settled for me to be transported back into the wild after thinking I was helpless. I was transported the next day, moved and carried onto a plane, where I would be shipped out like a refugee. As soon as the plane landed, all I could hear and see around me was nature, trees, branches and no sort of city or life. They dumped me there, left me and were never to be seen again. Soon after, I would have to look for shelter, prey and some sort of family. Walking for hours in the dark soul of a tiger. Marching boots of hunters that were looking for their own prey. I was stuck, I was trapped. I screamt, I shouted, I banged nothing moved, nothing changes.