In A Guilded Cage She was so convinced that her life was going to change, but as she looked in the mirror she felt more bound and desperate than she ever had before. “Emily you’re on in five!!!” shouted a rough voice from somewhere in the stage crew. She looked back to the mirror. That mirror was torture to her. When preparing for shows it forced her to look at herself to see what she had become, what they had turned her into. She looked to the stage to look away from her face, but that was little comfort. She had used to love the stage, but now it was her cage. It controlled her every move. It took her free will and siphoned the life out of her. She had to fight hard not to cry looking at that stage. Soon the music began and her cue hit. She moved onto the stage with practiced grace and began to sing. When her voice echoed through the acoustics of the structure the once noisy room fell silent except for her, except for her voice. Every man woman and child felt goose bumps rise on their skin and a cold chill down their spines. With every note and following movement hearts skipped a beat, men lost their breath and women boiled with envy. If only they knew it was all just an illusion Emily thought to herself. The day she was discovered everything was supposed to change and to be better. During her performance she reminisced. She was a teen only sixteen years old and her family was poor so very poor, but she had always been a singer. Even with no food and little shelter she found a song in herself. That song was dying now as she looked across the stage. Even as she stunned the audience and sang to the music outside of her she felt the music inside dying. When she was little she used to sit outside the saloon and listen to the showgirls singing inside. She saw the men fawn over them and buy them anything they asked for. She wanted that. She wanted to be taken away from her life of poverty. One night as the saloon started getting busy someone outside took notice of her singing along. It was a black haired woman. She was in a dress similar to those of the saloon girls, but it was black and matched her hair. “If you want to be like them your dreams fall far short of the stars my dear. They are nothing but puppets.” After she said those words the owner of the saloon came out “Celine I need you. These women fill the place sure enough, but you are a true diva. When you sang the angels wept and so did my patrons.” Said the owner “Sorry Patrick I’m not interested” said Celine with a toss of her hair and she walked away out into the desert. It was a full moon that night and Emily could never forget that woman as she walked into the night, because later that night she heard her sing. When the moon was high in the night Emily suddenly became aware of what Patrick had meant. When Emily heard Celine’s voice her heart stopped for a moment. She decided at that moment that she would have Celine teach her how to sing. When Emily asked her she happily obliged. Celine taught her scales and taught her how to read music and Emily could sing, but something was missing. Her voice didn’t yet have the chilling quality, but that quickly changed when Celine asked one question “how come you’ve never invited me to your home?” Emily looked at her with shame and finally said “because I don’t really have one” Celine looked at the child with disbelief “please child show me at least where you live” she continued. Emily finally did show Celine the beaten shack where she lived. Celine looked in disbelief as certain anger swelled within her. How cruel life is to treat a mere child in such a way she thought to herself. “Emily I want you to think of this when you sing. Think of the fact that your home is a mere shack, think of the fact that your parents though I’m sure they do their best can’t always feed you. I want you to think of the fact that you can’t afford new clothes or anything else you may want. Emily had never seen it that way. She thought of all those things and as they ran through her mind Celine asked her to do her scales. When Emily sang those scales they had a ghostly quality that would have made even the local coyotes quiver with envy. “You’re done now, you don’t need me anymore” said Celine and then she walked away. Emily never saw her again As Emily looked out at the crowd she longed to see her friend and teacher. Every time she had performed at a new city she had secretly hoped that maybe just maybe Celine would be in the audience. She continued to remember the things that happened after that day. Soon she became a local celebrity. The town would ask her to sing and occasionally a generous passerby would pay her. She saved that money and with it her family bought a small house although her vision was blurry and she desperately needed glasses they couldn’t afford both. It wasn’t much, but it was better than a half destroyed shack. Not long after she was approached by Patrick. He was as astounded by her voice as he had been by Celine’s. He began to pay her at the town square every time he saw her singing and not long after that he offered her a contract. She took it and looked at it. She could read, but there was a strange smear at the bottom that she couldn’t wipe off. Why would such fine paper have a smudge like that? She thought to herself. She took the contract home and showed it to her parents. They too saw the smudge, but they were pre-occupied with the amount of money the contract was offering. They encouraged Emily to accept the contract which she did. After she had signed the contract Patrick smiled and said “welcome to the show my dear.” Her first performance was the night after. She stood there with her make up on and her beautiful costume. It was a white showgirl dress with golden trim and designs. Her light brown hair was accented by it as were her light brown eyes. Her voice shocked and amazed the crowd and the first time she heard so much applause she was almost frightened by it. She curtsied to the crowd and walked behind the curtains. “Thank you Patrick, but I think I will go home now” said Emily and with those words Patrick began to laugh. She laughed with him at first thinking it was good natured, but his next words turned her skin pale “dear you aren’t going home” said Patrick as he pulled a bottle of liquid out of his cabinet. He took the liquid and poured it over the smudge on the contract. It said that Emily was now personal property of Patrick and the saloon. Emily held back her tears until Patrick spoke again “dear you’re never going home” he said and with that Emily’s eyes began to water. She tried to run, but she was grabbed by Patrick’s body guards and thrown to the ground. After she tired and couldn’t fight anymore she dropped to the floor and began to weep uncontrollably. The next night Emily refused to perform. That’s when the clause that truly bound her was introduced. Patrick walked up with a smile and held up the contract to Emily. In the formerly smudged part of the contract it stated that any item bought by money from the original agreement is available for repossession if the contract is not upheld. Her family had gone from rags to riches and if she would have disobeyed then they would have lost even their rags. Three performances went by before she broke down and wept hysterically. In this time Patrick actually showed some human emotion and did not make her perform, but the next night she was to make up for it. Three months went by like this and the only things she was allowed to have were the things that men bought her after her shows. After making a sufficient amount of profit Patrick decided to take the show on the road. Another year went by until they came to the opera house in the former mining town of San Francisco and there she was singing, singing against her will at an opera house to people whom she would probably never see again. The music stopped and she curtsied. She walked off the stage.Countless times she had wished she would never see a stage again. Every show to cut costs Patrick had downsized her room. Now her room was the equivalent of a cage and represented the same thing. She cried herself to sleep as she had done every night that year. When she woke in the morning she was greeted by a young girl dressed in black. She asked her why she was crying last night. She told her the whole story and he said something she would never forget “don’t seek vengeance if you turn the other cheek you will be rescued” and with that the little girl ran off. His words had actually gotten to her and she did listen. When Patrick came she obeyed him without question. Two more shows passed and Patrick was exceptionally pleased with Emily’s new attitude. He allowed her to stay out and do whatever she wanted in town until midnight. After soaking up the attention of men around the area she returned to her room and this time did not cry herself to sleep. She slept peacefully for the first time since she had been taken. When she awoke in the morning she felt something was amiss. Normally Patrick would wake her with either cold water or a slap across the face, but this time she woke on her own. When she walked out of her room she saw that the caravan had been burnt to the ground, and Patrick and his men were nowhere to be seen. She walked around inspecting the damage and noticed something peculiar; none of the animals had been harmed. She made a full circle back to her room where she saw a note attached to the door. The note read “never take vengeance remain innocent and you will be rescued.”
Copyright © 2007 Devin Backman |