He dragged me through Dollywoodland like a rag doll. I struggled, I screamed, and I cried until my voice was hoarse, and not one person came to help me. None of the townsfolk cared about what was happening to me, and they’ll all pay for it.
I grew up with them; they watched me mature, and even though we keep to ourselves, we’re supposed to come together when someone is in need.
I was in fucking need!
Colby brought me to a small cabin in a foreign territory. I’ve never been here and when the shuffling of my feet stops, I swear I can hear strange noises in the sway of the tree I’m in.
I am in a fucking tree.
It was dark when we finally arrived here, but I do remember gaping at the towering trees as they shot up toward the night sky. Thick trunks that would take ten people to encircle, and the tops of the trees were a burnt orange, the effects of the radiation still lingering. Otherwise, it was beautiful and terrifying. I have never seen trees like this.
I was forced to climb the tree with deep divots he’d carved into the trunk, and the higher I went, the sicker I felt. Until I came to a platform over my head, and then Colby pressed in against my back, his heat seeping through the thin material of my clothes. He reached up and pushed something; I tried to see what it was, but it was too dark.
A large opening appeared above my head, and I could see a room lit up inside. He had built a small cabin high in the treetops. I climbed inside and scooted quickly across the floor, never having been this high. My ears were cracking and my heart was threatening to explode in my chest. I think I’m afraid of heights.
The cabin is cozy, but small. It has one large room and three smaller rooms down a very narrow corridor. There are two bedrooms and a small bathroom. No running water, but he showed me where he stores the barrels of water. I can even heat it in a small wood-burning stove. Not that I remember what he said to do, because I was still feeling like the contents of my stomach would spill all over the pristine wood floors.
Now that I’ve acclimatized, I can’t do a fucking thing. I don’t know how to even get out of this place. There’s a secret contraption which needs a key, and Colby took it with him when he left.
He left.
I’m starting to believe everyone eventually does. They all leave, and I’d be perfectly okay with that as long as I wasn’t a fucking prisoner.
My eyes skate toward the narrow hallway—two bedrooms. My feet shuffle down the small space and I stop in front of the first one. A double bed with two chests for clothing and that’s it. This would be our room. Candle holders are attached to the wall, glass globes covering the sides to prevent a massive forest fire.
My head turns to look over my shoulder at the small arch leading into another room. For Lilian, he said. My jaw clenches and I walk by, now standing in front of a small alcove. It’s basically a fancy bucket with a seat on it, and an open barrel of water. The bathroom.
I miss my house; I miss my own room, and I miss my daddy.
He gave me up, handed me over to Colby without even knowing where I would be. All because Heidi was still alive. How did she survive? I head back out to the large main room with one three-seater sofa and a small round table. I begin to pace again.
How did Heidi survive?
I killed her; I know I did.
My eyes catch on the small round table again. It has three chairs. One must be for Lillian. He wants her to be our daughter, but I know what daughters are capable of, and I never want one. She’ll grow, and one day when I’m fat and pregnant, he’ll fuck her like Daddy did me.
If he brings that girl here, I’ll throw her out of the fucking tree.
I growl in frustration and fall back on the couch, looking around the little place. It’s not terrible, but who wants to live up in a fucking tree?
He has a small box filled with meat jerkies and slabs of meat. He says we have to eat it in the next few days or else it’s going to be made into jerky. There’s another box filled with vegetables and fruits sitting next to the small wood-burning stove. It’s quaint, but it has everything we need. He assured me nothing could reach me up this high, and if I wanted to look out the small glass panes in the wall, I could get used to the height.
Fuck him.
I don’t need to get used to it. I’m leaving the first chance I get. I’ll kick him out of that trap door as soon as he opens it, and then I’ll stop by to surprise Daddy and Mommy. Just when she thinks she has him back and I’m long gone, I’ll pop right back up. I can’t wait to see the delicious fear coating her eyes again, the slight tremble in her chin when she realizes she’s dying, and then the begging for forgiveness—my favorite part.
Everything here is too still, eerily quiet, and I find myself homesick for the familiar sounds of Dollywoodland. Even hearing the creatures along the borders with their wails and grunting language. I want to go home.
I have more dollies to make and I can’t do it from up in my treehouse prison. I have to find a way to convince Colby to let me go home. Maybe I can strike up a bargain with him. He seems reasonable.
By the time I’m done, Dollywoodland will be one epic display of what betrayal looks like.