hopelessly. She felt desperate but she was resigned to her fate. Maybe she would never meet her
children again.
She was carried into the truck that passed by before. As the roaring sound began, Polly was
much more worried than the time she left her cave.
“How did they get me?’’ She thought, “Haven’t they left? What shall I do? What will they do
to me?’’
She suddenly remembered her mother. When Polly was young, her mother took care of her.
Nothing went wrong throughout her childhood. She left her mother’s cave after she grew up. She
knew that it was a permanent separation, but she didn’t feel sad or anything. She thought raising
children and facing the final departure were a mother’s responsibilities; therefore she left the cave
without looking back.
After her departure, Polly did not see her mother or siblings again. Eventually, she became
a mother herself. She finally understood how hard it was to be a mother. She had to feed her
children, teach them and protect them. Sometimes she might also have to risk her life to avoid
predators. She wondered what her mother and siblings were doing now. Were they still alive?
Or have they been killed? Or were they now facing the same destiny like Polly, being caught by
human and was stuck in a cage?
The scenery outside the truck had changed. There was more grass, but the ground was
sometimes littered with rubbish. At some places there was even a small hill composed of junk
and garbage. It was the rim of the desert. The local government had tried to reduce the speed
of desertification by planting trees at the rim of Gobi Desert. But due to inadequate resources
allocation and lack of protection, the forests had no purpose. Now it was the den of illegal hunters
and factories.
The roaring engine had stopped and Polly’s cage was carried into a sooty hut with dark red
floor. Polly saw there were animals in cages. Rabbits, snakes, puppies and cats… They all looked at
Polly with terror and fear. Polly could not understand the reason for their hopelessness, but when
she looked up to the ceiling, her eyes became same as others.
Leather. Skin. Fur. They were all hanging in the ceiling. A man took a rabbit out of a cage.
It jumped and kicked, but the man was still holding it tight. He slammed the rabbit against the
corner of a table, then it did not move again. The eyes of the man were merciless and ruthless,
without any sympathy. He tossed the lifeless rabbit into hot boiling water. It was obvious that the
rabbit was already dead, because there was no kicking or screeching. All animals were whining,
begging for mercy. However, the man just went on. From his skillful behavior, everyone knew
that he had killed a lot of animals, not only rabbits.
“It must be how hell looks like,’’ thought Polly, “I am doomed. My children are doomed.’’
The man holding Polly’s cage was paid and he left Polly at the killer’s place. After Polly was
placed in the corner along with other animals, the killer took the dead rabbit out of the boiling
water using a large pair of tongs. The corpse was put on the table, and blood stain soaked the table
corner. The man grabbed a scalpel and started peeling the skin of the rabbit. The blood dripped
onto the floor. No wonder the floor was dark red.
When it was all done, he threw the half-cooked rabbit meat to the puppies and dogs and
hanged the skin to the ceiling. The dogs must have been starving for days, since they were tearing
the meat off the bone before the corpse touched the ground. It was how hell looked like.
Polly knew she had no chance of escaping. She waited for days and nights without food or
