**This is a little vent writing...but I know it can be interpreted a number of different ways.
Let me know how you interpreted this if you don't mind. I'll tell you all later how this story relates to me.**
Each one of us has had our days where we felt like a prisoner: trapped, confined,
caged. You wake up early in the day, dreading the day ahead as it will be long and tedious, much like a
caged animal.
You awake and remember that you are a prisoner, metal fencing separates you from being able to do whatever you'd like. The fence is tall and there seems to be no way out. You get too close to the metal and feel a sharp sting in your skin as an electrified wire touches you. You back away quickly, remembering your mistakes from before. There's no way out of this place, and even to attempt an escape would be painful in itself.
You sit and think why you have to go through a life like this. You close your eyes and dream of being free. You dream of a vast plain for you to run, an endless sky full of birds and clouds, bountiful food and friends to share your freedom with. You dream about it every day.
And then you remember...
A young boy stands at the fence of the cage, smiling and waving to you. You approach the fence, not getting too close that you'd be shocked again, but enough for him to talk to you. He even reaches his hand in, holding treats for you to eat. You smile and accept his gift, the treats are delicious and you even amuse him by licking his palm. The boy gets to touch your face, a treat in his own way. He rarely has ever touched such soft fur.
The boy says goodbye and runs off. And you are glad for the day that you had been visited by such a nice human. But then you remember once again...
The
promise of freedom, you remember that you would one day be set free. You know that every day would be a struggle, and you would long for your goal of living your dream, but that every day you conquered was a day closer to freedom.
And then you think about your situation. You may be caged, but you're
protected from predators, and you are given food to eat and shelter from the sun when you get too hot. You get to see the faces of humans, who often are inspired by your beautiful form and love to see your smile.
You sit and dream once more. Freedom...that's why we carry on.
From my trip to the Mobile Zoo, a deer who inspired me greatly, including this story... 
Beautiful. As I was reading
My cage is similar. For me
But then I remember that my freedom will be graduation (although I'll go for my Master's later, I will have gotten out of Mobile and have a better job than being a grocery worker). I'll be free from this seemingly dead-end college student lifestyle and out into the world as a professional geologist.
Like I mentioned to Redkora, the part where the boy visits you is a reference to when I visited the deer at the zoo. I know he appreciated my company as he was following me around the cage. Silly guy, he was stomping his hooves since it was the rutting season, and I gave him most of the treats I had bought.
That portion for me conveys a simple message: "Enjoy the little things." That's something I personally need to learn from.
You know, reading this brings
To me the boy who visits and brings a small touch of joy is much like my future prospect of getting rid of the cast. It's much like one small step towards freedom. I very much love your writing Quad. You have a very descriptive way without coloring it with useless, pretty words that only distract from the story. This story is both sad and sweet. ♥
I'm the same way. It's
Over the past year on a research study, I was basically carrying most of the work for three people. One person didn't do anything until it was too little, too late, and the other person had so many personal problems that she couldn't do what she needed to do. Both of these people are in my grad program, so I had to put up with their crap for the duration of the project. Finally, I decided that I wasn't going to do most of the work on a research project plus all the other stuff I'm doing this year, so I told my advisor I couldn't work on it anymore. Thankfully, she was understanding (but she still doesn't know what really went on--I doubt she would have done anything other telling me to "deal with it," anyway). It sucks that I had to give up research that I really liked (robots), but we weren't getting any help for the repeated equipment failures, weren't getting promised reimbursed for the money we spent on the project, and I would have continued to do most, if not all, of the work on the project. I'm not alone, though. I've read other horror stories from others who are in graduate school and things could be much worse.
My advisor has this habit of giving you 20 things to do at once and she expects it all to be done well. She may or may not help you with it, and she likes to dump work on you on very short notice at the last minute. This often translates to late nights spent rectifying any changes she wanted rather than moving on to the next part of the project. I've gotten somewhat used to this, and I have learned to be more flexible as a person.
These hardships can make you stronger if you know how to use them correctly, but it's hard to do that when you're given little time to do anything except work. All you can do is put your head down and keep working and wait until the storm blows over.
One thing that has helped me recently was realizing that with my medical condition, I can't afford to let myself get stressed out. Over the summer, as difficult as it was, I learned that it was okay to refuse to allow myself to get stressed. Also, reminding myself that what I am doing now may be my last act on earth has helped put things into perspective.
Baal - Ah I'm sorry to hear
Redkora - You just gave me a really neat idea. I'm going to make another topic about 'simple pleasures' and see if we can get some websites, products, and so on from our fellow TEFers for us all to enjoy. Thanks
Edit - Simple Pleasures. I only put down one thing of mine so far, but I'll add more later on. I gotta run to class now.
Glad I could help! I'm not
For me... Freedom at any
Freedom
at any price...
is worth all the pain in the world...
more important than an assured meal.
More important than being safe.
not to be ordered to do this and that like dogs, confined to a cage.
A cage, no matter how big, is still a cage.
to be free, even if it costs my life...yes, to me...
I feel bad for the animal in this.
How can one give in so easily?
as for me...
if I couldn't free myself from that fence...
I would sooner hang myself on the wire than stay a prisoner.
All the same, the writing here is beautiful, I love all your stories ♥