Chapter 4

SOLD!

Bucky stirred in his sleep, and sleepily opened his eyes. Something had woken him in the middle of the night. He yawned and peered into the hallway, but it was all quiet and the lights were still dim. He rolled over and went back to sleep.

In the morning, the men were ushered out of the cells as usual and sent to breakfast. As they were finishing up, Bucky noticed a few extra guards enter the room. Any changes in the routine often meant something was up. He discreetly tapped his foot against the guy sitting next to him.

When his head turned, Bucky nodded towards the guards. The guy looked up. "Mmmm."

The guards herded them to the showers, and clean loose-fitting trousers were set out.

They padded barefoot down the halls. By now everyone knew something was going on, and you could feel the tension in the air.

"Alright, quiet down now. You'll be going through one at a time."

Each man was prodded along and disappeared around the corner. No one could see what was going on.

When Bucky started forward, he could feel his heart thumping in his chest. He rounded the corner. Guards waited for him there. They fitted him with a strange looking harness, but what he didn't expect was the cable being attached to the back and being lifted off his feet.

He was hoisted into the air and lowered into a barren glass tank. The cable detached itself and Bucky was left confused and alone.

The tank reminded Bucky of a fish tank, only he was the fish! The tank was on a conveyor belt and began to move slowly. At first Bucky kept his footing, but when the tank hit the uphill section, he was bounced off his feet.

He crawled to the closest corner and braced himself. It felt like the chugging of the Cyclone roller coaster. Bucky hoped there was no fast drop down the other side.

He watched his progress through the glass wall. He had to be about 30-40 feet off the ground. We've landed! Bucky now realized.

He bounced again as the conveyor leveled off. Some waiting workers guided the tank onto the next section and pushed the tank back into a slot. Then the entire level moved down a notch to prepare for the next set of tanks.

Bucky stood up and pressed against the glass. Down below he saw his captors milling about and it seemed they were waiting for something, or someone.

He looked up. The glass wall was easily twice his height, maybe more. Without a grip of some kind, Bucky had little chance of climbing out; even jumping as high as he could go was useless.

While he was exploring his options, he felt a shuddering underfoot. It stopped. Then there was another shudder. It stopped as well. The pattern continued, and it felt strange, yet familiar. He was dismissing the conclusions when he saw the source of the shuddering.

Bucky's jaw slowly fell open as he watched a 60 foot "man" walk by. Bucky slowly backed away from the glass as far as he could. He suddenly felt he was part of a bad science fiction film. Scenes from The Invisible Man Returns starring Vincent Price, and Flash Gordon starring Buster Crabbe flitted through his mind.

He shook his head. It was incomprehensible. He slid to the floor of the tank to sort out his mind. This wasn't happening! It just can't be real!

But it was real. The tanks were part of a transport vehicle that would carry the tanks to their next destination. His captors were paid their negotiated fees, and the vehicle started off.

Bucky crawled to the other side and watched as the terrain raced by. Everything was huge! He felt like he was in the land of giants, and that wasn't all that far from the truth.

The transport slowed, and it got the attention of all the hapless victims held in their cages. The lurch told them that this was it…whatever was going to happen, it would happen here.

Bucky watched the driver emerge and bring some paperwork to the backdoor of a building. The driver looked human, sort of, but there were some facial differences, Bucky realized now.

He pushed a button which presumably was the doorbell and the door opened shortly thereafter. A man came out and looked over the papers. Then he surveyed the "livestock". Bucky never thought about what a cow felt like at auction, but he was getting a pretty good idea now.

It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

Workers came out and began unloading the transport.

Once inside, Bucky was chased down and removed from the tank by a huge hand. Struggling was useless; Bucky was not strong enough to get free. He put up a good fight though, until he was dumped upside down.

Hanging upside down 40-50 feet from the ground made Bucky's stomach do flip flops. His trousers and underclothing were pulled off. He felt something clamp around his ankle. He was righted and put back into the tank. Then a notation was made on a clipboard. The tank was passed to another worker who put in shredded paper, a tiny bucket, and two bowls.

Then Bucky was handed off yet again. He was carried along to what Bucky could only assume was the front of the "pet store". Food and water were added to the bowls and Bucky was put on the display shelf for customers to peer at.

Across the room, Bucky saw similar tanks with females in them, all looking very disconcerted.

When a face filled the view, Bucky jumped back and burrowed into the shredded paper. He was naked once again.

Bucky watched faces go by; adults and kids, and wondered what his fate would be.


It was a long week.

During that time Bucky had kids rapping sharply on the glass, and complaining to their parents that they were bored. "Make him do something!" They wailed. Bucky didn't move.

When he went to bed, all the nocturnal creatures woke up! Bucky moaned. Really? Sleep was broken and restless by day. Every time he dozed off, he was jarred awake by people staring at him.

Water was changed daily, and food ranged from pieces of fruit to seeds to dried meat chunks. Bucky didn't want to know what it was, but it tasted like beef jerky.

Toileting was a major hassle! There was no privacy, just the bucket. Bucky grabbed handfuls of shred to cover himself as he did his business.

He passed the time with pushups and sit-ups, otherwise he had nothing to do, but be stared at.

If there were such things as weekends here, Bucky discovered it, as customers piled into the store to look at the new arrivals.

All the cages and tanks had descriptions and prices listed on the outside. People stopped to read the information and either moved along or came back with a salesperson. Bucky watched parents carry off tanks or cages, with their kids jumping up and down at their heels.

He lay down to try and get some sleep. He bunched up the shred and pulled more up to cover himself. He just put his head down when he heard a child's voice. "Pick me up; I wanna see all of them."

The father picked up the boy and let him see all of the occupants. Then he commanded to go back over all of them again.

"Pick one already." The father's exasperated voice cried. "Narrow it down to three and then pick one."

Bucky watched the boy's face go by several times before it stopped at his tank. "I wanna see that one!"

Bucky's stomach turned over.

The salesman pulled Bucky's tank down from the shelf. "Let's go into a viewing room. Just follow me please."

Bucky scooted into the corner and braced himself so he didn't fall over.

The tank was set down on the counter and the salesclerk closed the door. "We don't want escapees now, do we?"

He chased Bucky around the tank, but since there was nowhere to go, Bucky was easily caught. "He hasn't been with us very long, so he's isn't quite trained yet."

"I wanna hold him! I wanna hold him!" The boy cried.

Bucky felt his stomach drop a little lower.

"I'll hold him, and you can pet him."

The boy, whom Bucky guessed was about 8, ran his fingers over Bucky's head and down his arm.

"Do you like that one?" The father asked.

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Ok, we'll take him."

The salesman must have smiled. "We are running several promotions this week. We have different levels of packages available; you can get just a tank or a cage on the entry level, the mid-range package includes two bowls, a waste bucket, a small starter pack of shredding, and a starter pack of dried foods. The deluxe package includes a special multi-level habitat, all your starter accessories, plus one free grooming session."

"We'll take the mid-range pack."

"Wonderful! You do save money by bundling it, but you are always free to upgrade to the deluxe at any time. Do you want a tank or a cage?"

"What's better?"

"The tank is heavier, but the cage has more accessories you can buy."

"For the price, I should get the accessories free." Pops grumbled.

"But you promised! It's my birthday!" The boy turned. "I'm gonna be 8!"

"Oh well, in that case Happy Birthday!" The he lowered his voice and whispered conspiratorially. "I'll see if I can find something in the back for a freebie." He winked, and turned to the father. "Are you planning on leash training? We have some excellent ones in stock."

Bucky sat huddled in the corner, completely ignored. LEASH TRAINING?

"How much are those?"

"The basic ones are very cheap."

"I got some twine in my workshop, it's free."

"I see. Well, let me go in the back and pull your package from the shelf. I'll be right back."

The salesman picked up the tank and hauled Bucky to the back. He scoured the shelf before finding the new tank Bucky would go home in, and took it down. He pulled down the appropriate level pack, which was put inside the tank. Then he fished around and got a ball, and another small box. He dropped the ball in the tank, fished Bucky out and put him in the new tank, along with the other box. He picked up the whole thing and came back out.

"I threw in a ball for entertainment and a starter box of wee wee pads."

"Wee wee pads?" The father's eyebrows knitted closer together.

"Yes, if you plan on taking him for extended rides in your vehicle, the wee wee pads help prevent accidents. They pull on, just like a diaper."

DIAPER?! I AM NOT WEARING A DIAPER! Bucky turned beet red.

"If you'll come with me, I'll bring this up to the register and you can pay for everything there."

Without shred on the tank floor, Bucky's bare behind bounced uncomfortably on the bottom of the tank, and he was totally exposed to everyone walking by. He covered himself as best he could, but the gait of the salesman made it difficult.

As the cashier rang up the purchase, she informed the man that additional supplies could be purchased mail order. "You just go on your computer to 'Living Doll dot com', and you'll find the entire collection, and the latest offers." She dropped a notecard into the tank.

The salesman carried the tank to the man's vehicle. "I suggest you pull the seatbelt around the tank so it doesn't slide off the seat."

The father belted the boy in the back seat and shut the door. He went around, pulled the other passenger belt around the tank and clicked it into place.

Then got in, and started up the car.

If Bucky thought he had trouble in the store, he underestimated the ride home. The car bounced him on his behind time and again. "Ouch!" Bucky squeaked.

"He squeaks dada, he squeaks!"

"Great, just great." In the front seat, the father just rolled his eyes.

When they got home, Bucky was peered at and poked by the rest of the family, much to his horror. He was carried to the boy's bedroom after the package opened and the tank set up.

"Make some room and I'll put the tank here." The father said.

The boy cleared off a space and the tank hit with a thud.

Bucky blew out a deep breath. He thought the worst was over.

It wasn't.

The energy level of an 8 year old boy is high. He kept after Bucky all afternoon, and didn't give him any rest until he was called to supper.

"Oh, thank God!" Bucky cried, and sank to the floor of his new home.

It smelled new. The watertight glue smell was giving Bucky a headache, his behind hurt, and all the muscles in his back felt tight. He lay back into the shred and sighed. He drifted off to sleep despite his aches and pains; he was exhausted. Army training was a piece of cake compared to this.

He only got an hour of sleep before the boy came back and jostled him awake.

Why couldn't I have been captured and kept by the Nazi's? Anything is better than this!

Bucky discovered something from this. He could hear them talking, but Bucky's voice and lungs were not powerful enough for them to hear him. Everything he said just registered as squeaks apparently.

The boys' mother came into his room later on. "It's time to go to bed."

"Aw, mom!"

Bucky had not only heard that one, but he'd complained the very same way to his own mother, especially when he had Steve staying overnight. How his own mother had raised him and his three siblings, plus having Steve over boggled his mind.

The mother left a dim nightlight on, and closed the door as she left.

What a first day!