An hour passes and Holly can still hear Susan’s footsteps shuffle through the house. The tiny girl resigns herself to sitting against the cage door, and staring up at the small perch, high overhead, thankful that Susan did not cruelly place her back atop the swinging bar.  The lotion slowly seeps into her skin, which is left soft and sweet smelling.  The bedroom door opens unexpectedly, and Susan walks into the room, dressed in a red dress and black heels.  The giant woman carries what looks like a hamster’s water bottle in her hand as she approaches the cage.  Holly’s eyes light up as Susan clips the bottle to the cage, however the silver straw hangs a good bit out of Holly’s reach.

“Oh thank god! I thought you were going to leave me here with no food…” Holly laughs nervously.

“I am.” Susan says sternly.

“What? Why?!” Holly whines, climbing to her feet and wrapping her tiny hands around the bars of the cage door, and looking up at Susan.

“Because I don’t think you appreciate what it means to be hungry.” Susan says, walking towards the desk and grabbing a tissue from a tissue box.  The giant woman walks towards the cage, and opens the cage door, causing Holly to backpedal a few paces.  Susan places the tissue into the cage and slams the door shut with a smile on her face.

“What does that even mean?” The tiny girl whimpers.

“What is the longest you’ve gone without food?” Susan asks.

“What is that for? And I have no idea? Does that mean I should starve to death?” Holly replies quivingrly.

“That is for when you have to go...and if I have to clean anything up when I get back, I’ll smash your little head in, understand? And stop being such a drama queen, you aren’t going to starve to death.” Susan rolls her eyes before turning around and walking towards the door. Holly looks upwards at the water bottle attached to the cage, and realizes it is a good foot and a half above her head.  

“Hey! that is way too high! I…” The tiny girl is cut off by the door closing. “Will never be able to reach it…” Holly finishes her thought in a whisper.  “God, what have I done to deserve this?!” Holly begins sobbing, slumping down against the cage door and bawling her little eyes out.  She cries for a long time, until she hears a car door slam from outside and an engine rev up.  

Then there is silence.

After awhile the only thing Holly can truly hear is her own breathing. Holly has enough time to concentrate on her aches and pains, her whole body throbbing with every heartbeat.  The morning passes by dreadfully slow as Holly paces around the cage.  

“OK, mother is probably freaking out about now, and they are out looking for me.” Holly assures herself.  “They’re gonna find me…And I’ll be home, soon… I’ll be home soon…I’ll be home soon.” The girl repeats the phrase over and over again, but the words sound hollow in her own ears. Holly smacks her dry lips and looks upwards at the silvery straw protruding from the water bottle, she then looks at the cap in the center of the cage, and opts for the easier choice.  She bends down over the cap and takes her fill of the liquid, drinking until the white plastic basin is empty.

She spots something round and baseball sized on the other end of the cap, and can’t help but smile.  “Ha!” Holly says triumphantly as she bends down over the discarded seed, the same seed that had rolled from her hand earlier.  She picks it up and looks at it, slight relief washing over her.  “This...This is not going to last two or three days.” She says to herself as she places it inside of the cap, her joy quickly fading.

The tiny girl paces around the cage for hours on end, trying to stave off the intense boredom in any way she possibly can, and failing miserably. Afternoon gives way to evening, and Holly slowly starts to lose her mind.

“This sucks!” She whines to herself as the sound of air moving through a vent fills the room.  A cold blast of air hits Holly a short time later, causing her to shiver and wrap her arms around herself.  “Not again...” She moans, looking around the cage until her little eyes fall on the tissue.  She quickly walks over to the massive tissue and bends down, gathering up the oversized paper product in her tiny hands.  The tissue proves to be a little too bulky for her and she struggles with it for some time, ripping off a blanket sized swatch and wrapping herself up in it.  

Holly huddles on the floor for a few more hours, growing thirsty, and quite hungry, her stomach rumbling angrily.  She stands up, casting the tissue from her body and walking over to the water bottle. She stares up at the bottle for a long time before leaping into the air and attempting to grab at it with both tiny hands, falling a good five or six inches short. She grits her teeth, and attempts again, and again, and again, coming closer and closer.  Finally she catches the straw between her hands, and finds herself dangling from it.  She grunts as she attempts to pull herself upwards, every muscle in her body screaming in agony and exhaustion as her face nears the black opening of the straw.  Holly’s arms can take no more, and the tiny girl finds herself falling from the bottle and landing on her back against the metal floor, groaning as pain radiates through her body.  Her tiny muscles tremble from the great strain as she crawls over to the bottle cap and grabs the seed. She nibbles on it until it is gone, only to find her hunger heightened.  She crawls back over to the tissue blanket and curls up beneath it.  The sun slowly fades from the room and Holly finds herself drifting in and out of consciousness.  

Holly awakens to the pitch darkness of night, a strong urge to urinate stirring her back to the world of the living.  She sits up, and slowly tears a small piece of her blanket off into her hand. Holly smacks her dry lips, stumbling over to the bottle cap.  She squats over the cap and does what she has to do while looking up at the silhouette of the huge water bottle. The tiny girl contemplates just how much water is contained within the vat like structure, and feels slighted that she is so very thirsty.  Holly cleans herself up and walks back to the bottle, standing beneath the metal straw.   She knows that if she cannot reach the bottle, she will surely dehydrate by the time Susan returns.  

“She’s testing me…” Holly says to herself.  “Why?” She shakes her head.  

“I’m not going to fucking die here...You hear me?!” Holly screams, pure anger permeating her voice.  Holly leaps upwards, grasping at the straw wildly and falling short once more.  “C’mon… I got it…” The tiny girl says confidently as she leaps again, grabbing hold of the straw with one hand and hanging upon it.  She brings her free arm around and holds on with both hands.  

“Ok...Ok…” The tiny girl repeats, drawing in a few short breaths before attempting to pull herself up once more.  Holly’s little face contorts as she strains her arms, attempting to lift her own weight.  She can see her objective draw closer and closer, but her arms give way just short of the prize.  She dangles there, her arms burning as she gasps for air.  After a few moments Holly lifts herself again, and this time successfully pulls her mouth up to the huge straw, which appears much too large for her to wrap her lips around.  She presses her lips against it, the cold metal painfully digging into her dry lip flesh. She draws on the straw as hard as she can and can hear the water gurgling towards her. Without warning she receives a face full of the liquid as her muscles tremble.

She presses her lips against the straw again, drawing upon it and then opening her mouth, allowing the second round of water to flow mostly down her throat. Her tiny arms give out, and she again tumbles to the floor, landing on her feet, her tiny toes squishing against the water that has pooled on the cage floor below the bottle.  Holly breathes through her teeth as she rubs her left arm, and then her right, stumbling back towards the tissue on the floor.  

“It will have to do for now.” she tells herself as she lays down, covering herself and curling up beneath the tissue.  She tosses and turns for a while, thinking about her empty stomach. Her mind wanders towards Bruce, but she quickly pushes him out of her head as she drifts to sleep.

Holly’s eyes snap open to the sound of birds, and bright sunlight splaying itself across the room.  All is silent within the house as the tiny girl’s stomach rumbles. She climbs to her feet and walks towards the side of the cage, looking out towards the desk, and the small bowl of bird seeds sitting upon it.  Her mouth salivates as she stares for a long time.

“They’re bird seeds Holly, get over it.” She says to herself, smacking her dry lips. She looks up and over her shoulder at the water bottle, her arms still sore from her previous attempts to extract water from it.  Holly’s head starts to pound and she moans, moving her right hand to her temple.  

“Bruce...Three eggs over easy, well done.” She says to herself, repeating an order that she had given the man countless times over the years.

“Right away, Ms.Bryant.” Holly mimics Bruce’s usual response.  

“And a glass of ice water...no, a milkshake.” The tiny girl continues her conversation as she drags herself across the cage towards the bottle of water, which mocks her from just out of reach.

“Chocolate or Vanilla?” Holly asks as she bends her tiny knees, and leaps upwards, grabbing onto the metal straw on her first attempt.  The tiny girl laughs triumphantly before sticking her lips to the straw and drawing water out.  She opens her mouth to accept it, and drops down, in one smooth motion, landing on her feet.  

“Did you see that Bruce? Did you? Mother would be so proud.” Holly continues as she walks to the opposite side of the cage.

“Indeed she would be, young miss…” Holly trails off, sitting down as tears start to form in her bloodshot eyes.  

“I’m sorry…” She sobs silently, curling into a tiny ball on the cold, hard floor.

“I’m a terrible person!” The tiny girl screams as her little body is wracked with pure remorse.  

“I’m sorry!” She continues as her face saturates itself in tears.  Holly remains curled in a fetal position as the hours melt away, she falls in and out of consciousness as the sun slowly fades from the room, a deep brooding depression chaining her to her spot.  

She finally pulls herself up in the middle of the night, her throat on fire and her hunger reaching new heights.  She stumbles to her feet, the world spinning dizzily around her.  Holly staggers towards the bars of the cage, and steadies herself against them, looking up at the gigantic water bottle once again.  The distance it hung over her head looked even more intimidating in her ever weakening state, but Holly pushes onward until she is standing underneath it once again.  

“One more time…” The tiny girl whispers to herself, knowing that as time wore on, she might not have the strength to even attempt to reach the bottle.  Hollow narrows her eyes and bends down, springing upwards and grasping for the hooked straw, the girl’s tiny hands fall short of her target.

Without hesitation she leaps upwards again, grasping the straw and hanging from it with both of her little hands.  She trembles and moans miserably as she pulls herself upwards, pressing her tiny lips against the straw yet again. She turns her head at the last second, and the water shoots out over her shoulder, falling to the floor.  Holly’s arms give out and she falls backwards, hitting the floor harshly.

The tiny girl rolls to her stomach and begins to feverishly lap the water from the floor, scooping as much of it as she can into her mouth.  The cold metal leaves a bitter taste on her  tongue as the water coats her mouth and throat, leaving her unsatisfied.

“I don’t want to die…” The girl whines as she slowly crawls on her stomach back towards the tissue.  “Mother...I don’t want to die.”  The girl moans miserably as she pulls the tissue over her body.  She falls into an uneasy sleep, tossing and turning and uttering nonsense to herself.

Holly’s eyes snap open, and to her surprise she is staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom.  Her body is wrapped in her own blanket and the room is lit by the warmth of a summer’s morning.  Holly tosses her blanket from her body and springs to her feet. She looks down at herself, to see that she is adorned in the same pink pajamas she had been on the morning of her birthday.  Intense fear grips Holly as she walks towards her bedroom door and opens it, the girl finds herself running down the hallway, past the picasso, and towards the stairs.  

“Happy Birthday Holly!” A familiar voice calls from above as Holly bounds down the spiral staircase.

“Thank you Elizabeth…” Holly finds herself saying as she looks upwards.  Holly gasps as she spots Susan, in a maid’s outfit standing above her, hanging over the railing with a sinister smile on her face.  

“Is this where you live you spoiled little cunt?!” Susan asks in a rage filled voice as Holly whimpers and runs down another hallway, towards the sizable dining area.  “Mother!” Holly shouts as she stumbles down the ornate passage. She bursts into the dining area, to see Julia sitting in her usual spot at the table. “Mother! Oh my god, Mother!” Holly screams desperately as Julia runs her finger across her tablet.  

“Yes dear, it is your birthday…” Julia says dismissively.  

“Mother, no!” Holly pants as she sits down in her own usual seat.  The kitchen door swings open and Bruce walks in with a silver domed plate.  “Bruce!” Holly yells as he sets the dish before her.  

“What do you want?” Bruce asks nastily, causing Julia to smile as she looks down on her tablet, not moving a muscle.  

“Bruce! What has gotten into you?!” Holly asks, taken aback.  

“An appliance? A servant? Well you know young miss…” Bruce says as he takes the dome from the plate, revealing a dish full of bird seeds.  “You’re nothing but a little songbird.” The man grins as he steps back behind the chair.  Suddenly Holly feels her wrists being secured to the arms of the chair with impossibly thick, black chains, which shoot up from nowhere and wrap tightly around her.

“That’s right…” Susan’s voice can be heard from behind Holly.  

“She’s useless.” Julia says as she tosses her tablet onto the table. Holly attempts to pull her arms free, grunting and thrashing about in her seat.

“I’m not useless!” Holly screams as Susan, still in her maid’s outfit walks over to the table and picks up a spoon, scooping a spoonful of birdseed onto it and bringing it to Holly’s face.

“I don’t know where I went wrong.” Julia says, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

“Don’t worry, it doesn't matter now, she’s mine! Isn’t that right my little songbird?” Susan asks as she shoves the spoon into Holly’s mouth, forcing the seeds down her throat.

“You can have her.” Bruce says from behind the chair.

“Bruce...please! I’m sorry!” Holly sobs.

“You most certainly are.” Julia says as she continues to shake her head.

“Wake up my little songbird.” Susan says gently, smiling down at Holly.

Holly’s eyes snap open, and she draws in a huge gasp of air.  She sits up slowly and looks over to her left, to see Susan’s massive freckled face beyond the bars of the cage.  She closes her eyes and pants, her whole body covered in a cold, sickly layer of perspiration. Susan giggles as she rises to her full height, dressed in pair jean shorts, and a white T shirt.  

“I am sure Bruce would be thrilled to hear that apology.” Susan says nonchalantly as she walks towards the desk, grabbing the bowl of birdseed.

“I have nothing to apologize for.” Holly says in a weak and raspy voice as Susan walks towards the cage.

“Who are you trying to convince there my little songbird, me? Or yourself?” Susan asks as she lifts the small bowl up to the cage, so that Holly can see it. The giant woman tauntingly rocks the bowl back and forth with a huge grin on her face.

“Miss me?” She asks in a sweet tone.