I was woken up in the morning by a bang on my cage. It startled me and I shot up at the sound.
Miss Lauren was standing above me with the same cruel look from the night before.
"Here you go pig boy," She said, placing a dog bowl filled with oatmeal and another bowl filled with water just outside of my confinements.
I was starving and thirsty and instinctively reached out for the offerings. That's when I noticed my hands had been fitted with thick padded mitts that would not allow me to grab onto anything. It must have been done while I was sleeping.
As I looked at them in surprise and then back up to Miss Lauren she said coldly, "since you're such a pig you can eat like one too."
As she walked out of the room I couldn't believe the cruelty in her voice. I had obviously mistaken her sweetness before. Or I had truly screwed up and turned her against members who didn't know her.
I had no idea of knowing how long I had been down there. My instincts told me it had only been a night. If it was, it had been a restless one with little sleep. The breakfast food reaffirmed my suspicions.
My head barely fit through the thick metal bars as I stretched my neck to reach the food and water. I felt like an animal. At least I was alone for this humiliating experience.
I remained in my cage for the rest of the day. Lunch was delivered in the same fashion, this time by Mistress Madeline without a word. It looked to be scraps from the meal they must have just eaten.
Finally after a few more hours Miss Lauren came down to release me from my confinement. She opened the door to the cage.
"Out, boy."
I crawled out of the cage and knelt at her feet looking up at her.
"I'm so sorry Miss Lauren I really didn't mean to upset you," I pleaded.
"I know that," she replied. "I do not forgive you but I can tell that you learned a valuable lesson. You will have to work extra hard to get back in my good graces."
I was ecstatic. I hadn't screwed up beyond repair and there was hope for redemption.
"Now get back to your quarters. It's almost 5 and it's Friday so you'll officially be off duty. If you remain on site you're to obey all commands but you are free to leave the property now if you choose," she explained.
She removed the mitts and I thanked her before heading up the stairs to my shed. On my way out I noticed with pleasure that my time had not been dropped below the pitiful 12 seconds I had before last night. Maybe they wanted to keep a light at the end of the tunnel for me or maybe the punishment I had received was deemed enough already.
Once back in my room I relieved myself in the bathroom. Lauren had come just in time, any longer and I'm not sure what I would have done.
By the time I was done Scott had returned.
"Missed ya in the kitchen today buddy, hope you're alright," he said knowingly.
"Yea, I think I'll be alright," I replied.
"A few of the guys are heading into town for dinner if you'd like to join us?" he asked.
"Sure, sounds nice," I replied thinking that a little time away from the farm was just what I needed.
Thankfully on weekends we had access to our belongings that we arrived with. I picked out a button up shirt and jeans that I had packed for my "business opportunity". I didn't think we'd be going anywhere too fancy around this part of the state.
At the request of Mistress Madeline our collars were removed. The cages stayed on, of course.
Myself, Chris, Scott, and Joe, who worked on the farm side, piled into Scott's truck and headed into town. It was a little awkward sitting next to Chris who witnessed me get verbally and physically abused as he got spit roasted the night before. But we didn't mention it.
The closest town was about a 15 minute drive through corn fields and pastures. We made small talk on the way as Scott played music and we had the windows down. It was a regular old guys night out.
The town was small and not unlike others in this area. A Main Street with a few shops, bars and restaurants and not much else besides a post office.