Fiona helped her mother unload the groceries from the department store before she took her new human stuff to her room. The alien child slept in a second story room of the mansion with a window overlooking the idyllic Italian looking city below. Along the way, Polly noticed that these two-headed people had apparently hired help that were of different species entirely. One that looked like a cross between a bulldog and a pangolin helped carry Fiona’s new toys up to her room. Another that looked like a crocodile and a German shepherd on two legs was giving Mama Ludovica a shoulder massage.
“Ooh, I swear Douglas,” the mobster matriarch sighed, “those fingers of yours are magic! I know I could get my husband to rub my shoulders, but you’re just… OH you’re just so good at this. I swear one of these days I’ll get Mr Hovaltar to move that store closer to the Veni system. It’s so far to fly just to get a good price for Valarian shrulla root.”
That was all Polly heard of the Garzolli mother’s rant to her bodyguard and apparent masseuse before Fiona finally moved out of earshot and up to her room. Inside was a nice and tidy place belonging to a well behaved and wealthy young lady. The pangolin bulldog creature was finishing up the assembly of Polly’s dollhouse, her gilded cage from now on.
“Thank you, Mr Dobbs,” Fiona told the servant, “I’ll take it from here.” Mr Dobbs nodded and plodded out of the room, wringing his paws as he left. “Okay now, Polly! Let’s get you out of the box so you can look at your new dollhouse. I’ll get the rest of the accessories out of the separate compartment while you get settled in.”
The alien girl popped the top off of the container Polly was held captive and lifted the teddy bear sized human out with both hands. She set her new toy down in front of the dollhouse door and sat back to watch. Polly stared at the dollhouse. It was a house. An entire house sized just for her, and fit within a corner of the alien girl’s bedroom. She felt so small… so helpless… She realized that she might never see Earth ever again. The understanding of her fate was finally starting to sink in.
“Polly?” Fiona asked, a twinge of genuine worry in her voice, “Is everything okay?” Polly looked into the faces of her captor. Her new owner. Those four big blue orbs staring her down as if she were an injured puppy. Two snakelike mouths screwed into worried frowns. This creature… this literal space alien child looked at Polly not as a prisoner, not as a slave, not even as a toy. She was gazing into a pair of faces that belonged to a worried, carrying mother.
Polly started to cry. Polly started to sob. Tears streaked her face and splattered on the carpet. It was too much. It was all too much for her to handle.
“I… I… I’m not okay!”