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It all happened quickly, as if it were a hallucination. Ryan almost failed to realize that he had been bought, and the future prospects of him, previously totally unknown, began to materialize in a vague image. He had been sold in a small steel cage, which the strange girl had placed in the basket of her bicycle in a rather precarious position. As his little prison shook at every turn, Ryan tried to sort out the sequence of events. He couldn't have summed up the conversation, he only remembered her name: Amber. She remained silent for most of the journey, busy pedaling as she was. In addition to the bars of the cage, a small town could initially be seen, which transformed into a wood as the titanic bicycle continued along the road. It had been a long time, but Ryan could still remember the scenery outside the shop. After taking a curve in the mountain road they were traveling along, the two found themselves in front of a large two-story high brick house, whose garden connected with a driveway to the main road. The plants were well taken care of, there were even a few flower pots here and there.
"Here we are. This is my humble abode. I suppose you will be better off here than where you were before. At least I hope." Amber said after stopping the bike. Ryan said nothing. As Amber approached the bicycle to a wall of the house to support it, he realized how titanic it was as a building. If he could have walked on the wall, it still would have taken him about ten minutes to reach the roof. Amber grabbed the cage by a plastic handle attached to it. Wonder was suddenly replaced by fear. What was going to happen? Would Amber hurt him? Who else lived in that house? Amber took out a set of keys and opened the door. Ryan didn't have much time to survey the other rooms before finding himself propped up on the desk in what was presumably Amber's room. Initially, neither of them said anything, then she sat down at the desk.
"So, this is my room, stupid face. Do you like it?" She asked.
"I guess it's ok." Ryan said feigning indifference.
Actually, the room was quite messy, there were a few socks and shoes scattered on the floor, while the desk he was on was full of crumpled sheets of paper.
"I'm glad you like it. Don't worry, I'll get a bigger cage for you soon too, so you can have a little more room to move around. For now, let's get you out of there." She said opening the door of the cage Ryan was in, and trying to lift it with her thumb and forefinger.
As soon as he saw the fingers approaching he flinched, but there wasn't much he could do. Was it going to be like this from now on? Would Amber impose her will on him and would it not have been enough for her to physically overwhelm him with the slightest gesture? Just the thought of it made him shiver.
She placed it on the surface of the wooden desk. His legs were still shaking slightly from being lifted, yet it hadn't been so bad, she had lifted him gently, not too tightly.
"Do you live alone in this house?" Ryan asked suddenly.
"Of course not. I live with my mom, she's at work now."
"What type is she? Is she mean to people like me?" he asked.
"You ask me as if I'm not." Amber said with a smile that showed all of her very white teeth.
Ryan's blood froze to think how those teeth could tear through his flesh like nothing happened.
"Well, you haven't been mean to me so far. You haven't done me anything wrong." he said.
"Yes, you're lucky I'm a good Christian girl, otherwise you'd be in trouble." She answered laughing. "Anyway, my mom isn't mean, she won't hurt you, but she's quite protective of me. You know, she's had to take care of me alone for the last few years."
For a moment Ryan was about to ask what happened to Amber's father, but he didn't want to ask for now.
"What about you, where are your parents little one?"
"I'd rather not talk about it." he said.
"Why?"
"I'd just rather not talk about it." Ryan reiterated.
"Come on!" She teased him, pressing her finger into his chest, pinning him to the table.
"No! Leave me alone!" He said biting Amber's finger.
"Shit! You hurt me, dumbass!"
Amber pulled back her finger, and Ryan stood up. He suddenly felt guilty for hurting Amber.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
"Jeez, I won't ask you again then. Did you really have to bite my fucking finger?"
She was frowning as she observed a faint red mark on her finger. Ryan had bitten with all the strength he had, and he had done practically nothing to her. The only thing he could hope was that she didn't take it badly.
"This time you're forgiven. Bite me one more time and I'll flush you down the toilet like a dead goldfish." Amber admonished him.
There was a moment of silence.
"I haven't seen my parents for a long time. I don't know where they are now, I don't even know if they are alive." Ryan said.
"This is terrible. Maybe I shouldn't have insisted."
"Don't worry. Just don't ask me more, I don't like talking about it." Ryan said.
Amber nodded silently.
From the window facing Amber's desk you could see the sun setting over the coniferous fronds, and slowly hiding behind the snow-capped mountains, as the two continued to chat. As the stars appeared in the sky, some faint light was also present downstream.
"Haven't you ever seen the sea? Seriously?" Amber asked.
"Never in my life. It would be nice to see him one day." Ryan answered.
"Yes, maybe one day."
The door slammed downstairs. "Ambey, I'm home!"
Without saying anything, Amber squeezed Ryan's hand. He was totally wrapped up in her fingers, he felt trapped.
"Hey, mom." Amber said. "Last week you said I could get a tiny, right?"
Amber was squeezing him in her fist behind her back, and her hand was sweaty. Suddenly she held out her hand to her mother and showed her new tiny.
"This is Ryan. Isn't he cute?"
"Uh, hey Ryan, I'm Sharon." She said, a little surprised.
She was a woman in her forties. Her hair was solid black, the opposite of Amber's honey blonde hair, but her blue eyes were the same as hers.
"Uh...Hi." Ryan said, a little intimidated.
"Did my daughter scare you?" she said laughing. "I know she can be a little rude sometimes, but she's a good girl."
"No, ma'am, your daughter was very kind." he said, trying to make a good impression.
"Glad to hear that. Amber, I'm going to reheat leftover lasagna from yesterday for dinner, it will be ready in half an hour. Don't make me wait like always."
"Yes, maybe." Amber said uninterested.
Ryan watched as she walked into the kitchen. Both she and Amber didn't seem to be that bad. It could have been much worse for him.
Amber walked upstairs, this time holding him more gently. While they waited for dinner, Amber lay down on the bed and laid Ryan on her stomach.

As the light June wind blew over the roof of Amber's house, and the moon lit up the woods, he reflected on whether this would be his life now, and wondered how these people would deal with him. Only time would tell.
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