II Imagine living a room by yourself for the rest of your life with no windows, no doors. No way out. You cannot see the beautiful world you once knew. You become accustomed to the reality that you will never see life again. The sky, the people, the beautiful colors and all smells good and bad. The taste of popcorn, pizza, fries and ice cream. I bet it seems weird that someone who spent all their life in this got forsake box would know what life was like. That's true, it is weird but I learned all this from my mother.

    She lived in this six walled cell with me before she passed some time ago. I remember everything she ever told me because I would carve it into the walls of this cell. She told me about the trees, flowers, lions, elephants, clouds, rain and even the inside of the human body. I remember the story she told me about how we ended up in this horrible place.

    It all started when my mom was 20 years old. She lived on a farm in Denver, Colorado, with her mother and father and pet dog Lucy. Lucy was a very old dog. They had her since my mother was born. One day, her father came home with some chocolate from his work at the Chestnut Chocolate Factory. Chocolate was her favorite treat. She sat out on the front porch with Lucy, eating her chocolate. Since Lucy was very old she didn't move much. But the smell of the fresh hazelnut chocolate made Lucy a little crazy. Lucy started to wag her tail and then she pounced on my mom taking a big bite of her chocolate. Four hours later, Lucy was lying on her cot in the living room with the biggest smile on her face, wilting away. My mom found her and rushed to tell her parents. They dig a grave in the backyard behind the swing Lucy and my mom would swing on after lunchtime.

   My mom had been depressed for several days. She decided she needs a new scenery so she told her parents that she was moving to the city. Her parents told her not to go because the city is just trouble. But my mom insisted that she'll be fine. She reassured them by telling that she would find a job and get an apartment. They believed her and let her start her new life in the city.

   My mom searches all over town. All she could find was apartments worth more than the money in her piggy wallet and rat infestations. She didn’t know what to do. She was in a new place and all by herself. She was about to call her parents until she saw a bright green flyer on a pole. The flyer read “Beautiful 2 bedroom Apartment, $300 monthly and with a view of the city. Just call 484-569-5925 and ask for Bill.” She called the number to speak to Bill. Bill told her to go to 36th and Locust and she’ll find a building with dark brown brick exterior and white and black awnings.

 My mom caught a cab for the first time. She always wanted to do that. When she got to 36th and Locust, she did exactly what Bill told her to do. But she couldn’t find the entrance to the building. There seemed to be a tall building with absolutely no windows or a door.  She stood there confused until she seen a black, round button pointing out of the brick of the building.

   She pressed the button and with the quickness the floor dropped, dropping my mom 9 feet into what seemed to be a dungeon under the building. When my mom gets a sense of what is going on, she comes to the realization of what is going on. The ad was a scam and she is being held, hostage. As she looks around it seems she isn’t the only one who was down there. The dungeon was a big room with a long hallway that leads to a cement wall. No windows, no doors, no freedom.

  The dungeon was pretty dark being as though there was only a freshly lit candle in the corner of the room. Since the candle was lit she knew someone was down there. Therefore, she searches the spacious room looking who was accompanying her. Then, she hears a frail voice crying out for help with the yelling of a baby. She follows the voice into a small room in the corner of the larger room. She goes in to see a very sicken woman and a newborn baby. My mom rushes over to help them. The woman tried to speak but words don't come out. In just an instant the woman dies. Lifeless on the ground still holding her baby. No way out.